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Structural Spreadsheet software 1

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sTrucTureTec

sTrucTureTec

Structural
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
16
Location
US
We are still an infant company and can't afford to run out and buy some of the great and expensive available software for a small project. We have a project requiring verification of several existing concrete t-beam load capacities for a structure built in the mid-sixty. Are there any free spreadsheet programs I can get a hold of to verify the existing t-beam design capacities? I have several t-beams to analyze and would like to speed up the process by using a program after I have verified the results.

Kelly Lyons, PE
Principal
 
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Try the Advanced Search feature of Eng-tips...to find the threads that contain links on this topic. I have found that most free Excell on the Net is not very good, but a few have clever algorithms to solve problems. In other words, you need to spend a LOT of time to devise your own spreadsheet, to be certain it is not "buggy", and fits your needs and preferences.
 
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Thanks for your reply. I'm not opposed to paying for a good spreadsheet program or other platform, just can't justify buying a full featured package like RISA and some of the others. I'm looking for something under $100.

Kelly Lyons, PE
Principal
 
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If you intend to verify the results of the program then you must be intending to do the calculation yourself. It would be easier for you to do the calculation yourself using a spreadsheet and then you can simply modify the data for other designs. You won't find a spreadsheet specifically for your requirements, not for that kind of money anyway.

corus
 
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This whole post explains why engineers are being "Slammed" as in an earlier topic in this forum.

Any engineer who is willing to use a sub $100 product to complete a design or design check deserves to be Slammed.

How can we call ourselves professionals?

Charge real fess and either do it properly by hand or buy proper software.
 
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Hey VoyageofDiscovery great link. [thumbsup2] Nicely done spreadsheet for only $25, helps us startup companies until we can make the profit to allow us to buy the full featured software. As reinforced by one of the post here, I have learned over the last 25 years there are a large number of engineers that aren't good businessmen, my $85/hr fee just got more profitable. We're a step closer to affording the full featured software. Again thanx.

Kelly Lyons, PE
Principal
 
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You're welcome.

It won't be profitable if you charge for only ten minutes. You also need to make sure these programs are error free by an independent check each time. Profit is based on the client's perception of value as well as what the client can afford, while keeping in mind industry norms. But you already know that.

Regards

VOD
 
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You mentioned finding software to verify the capacity of a tee-beam, RISA is an analysis program with design capabilities based on the loading and member properties that are input by the user.

While, I'm not familiar with it's design capabilities wouldn't this require being able to specify the actual existing properties of the beam in advance? And would the procedure be using ASD or USD? If the beam was designed in the sixties it would be more beneficial to use ASD in evaluating the capacity.

So, wouldn't this all be much easier and cheaper if you did the capacity analysis by hand (20 minute check) and set up spreadsheet? Presently, you've already wasted that much time writing your post and searching for cheap/free software! Not a valuable way to spend new company time.


Regards,
Qshake
[pipe]
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
 
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The spreadsheet allows you to specify the actual properties of the beam in advance, so it is a good solution. This is a fair size project, there are several beams and I am doing them by hand, using the software as a check of my work. For a startup company it beats getting someone else involved to check your work. Good point though on the ASD vs. USD, it would take me some time though to familiarize myself with the ASD design procedure, as I am still young enough that everything was USD when in college.

Kelly Lyons, PE
Principal
 
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In college and grad school I had to write several programs like this for my concrete classes. They were not very difficult to write. A little knowledge of visual basic programming and macros in excel and you could write it yourself. Make sure you test it with some solved example problems and try it with a wide range of problems including extreme high and low values. Sometimes a program will work fine except under one condition you forgot to check it for.
 
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