A quick design tool for the design of steel beam using microsoft excel

• Main Author: Xiao, Siyu
• Other Authors: Lee Chi King
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52677
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report serves to recount the development of the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet program for the design of the steel beam. Using Microsoft Excel 2007 as the implementation platform together with Visual Basics for Application (VBA), the spreadsheet program enables engineers to design steel beams efficiently without the need to perform design calculation manually. In addition, design of steel beams using the spreadsheet program can be completed within a short span of time, rendering tremendous help to designers who need to design for hundreds and thousands of beams for a single project in a short period of time. The development of the spreadsheet program consists of mainly two parts: designing of the interface (to be covered by the author’s partner) and incorporating VBA code into the design procedure of the program (to be covered by the author). Detailed analysis of the beam design according to Eurocode3 (EC3) was first presented before the author proceeds to the writing of the VBA code. Months of hard work were invested to pick up VBA from scratch before the author was able to generate the code writing of VBA for the different design procedure for beam design. Overall, this spreadsheet program is user-friendly, with step-by step instructions teaching the user what to do. As such, it is highly suitable for fresh engineers who just enter the construction industry. In addition, the spreadsheet program is highly efficient and time-saving. Users are able to eliminate large consumption of time due to hand-calculation. In addition, it is very reliable and accurate as there is zero room for calculation mistakes. It is error-proof. The spreadsheet program allows user to have a clear picture of the adequacy of the beam design. All details of the design checks are displayed at one glance and modifications to the design can be done in just a few clicks. The author and his partner aspire that their efforts in the development of this excel spreadsheet will contribute tremendously to the civil industry and establish a good reference for further research in the development of similar spreadsheets.