LRFD DESIGN STEEL SECTION (EXCEL SHEET)

[h-badawy]

Dear experts

the attachment is excel sheet for design beams and columns section i need your help for review
thank you

Thank you

 

[MacGruber22]

haithhambadawy,

You are probably going to have to ask pointed questions, as I don't know who has time to go through your spreadsheet to hunt down problems (if that is what you are asking).

I can comment in general that I find spreadsheets for structural design are much better when they have a table format so you can analyze/design many members and keep their results organized. For instance the attached spreadsheet is, in my opinion, a work of art with respect to its organization, clarity, and functionality. Alex Tomanovich is the gold standard for structural spreadsheet creation - I wish he designed them for a living.

The workbook has a single worksheet somewhat similar to yours, but has an additional worksheet in table form which is what makes it invaluable for repetitive calculations.

Some recommendations:
1. You have duplicate shapes tables - that is not good unless for a good reason. Move your steel shapes table to its own worksheet. This prevents accidentally deleting a row, and allows better viewing. Also, I recommend adding a row directly above the shapes table with counting numbers that identify each row in the table. This allows you to more quickly and accurately add or modify VLOOKUP data.
2. Colors - spreadsheets shouldn't really be a rainbow of colors as I believe that it is distracting. When color is used, it should be purposeful and only ever repeated when it is being used for that purpose - i.e. consistency without clutter. The more colors, the less important information sticks out. My eyes go numb when looking at your column design sheets. They look like checkerboards of color.
3. Program assumptions. Never mind other people who may use your spreadsheet (maybe they won't), but you will forget your assumptions if you take a break from using it regularly. You may find it tedious and boring to spell out the assumptions, but it is worth it as you update to newer versions of your spreadsheets (have a worksheet with upgrade dates and bullet points of upgrades/bug fixes).



"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[dik]

In addition to Mac's comments, you have put a lot of effort into your spreadsheet. Your hard work shows. Most engineers, if they used your spreadsheet, would check the calculations prior to use. If any errors were determined, they would likely advise you through the forum.

For formulas, I often include these; Excel has a bit of a problem for writing and including these.

You might want to check the Engineering Spreadsheets forum for a post by myself, where the participants helped me to use multiple data tables using the Indirect Function and data validation. They were a lot of help.

Dik

 

[MacGruber22]

I guess eng-tips doesn't like my excel file attachment...

"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[h-badawy]

Thanks all but this sheet still under progress,and sure ur advice is valuable and i will take it into consideration.

Thank you