A recent press release is included in this edition of the site Newsletter. Please pass it on to friends and colleagues with an interest in calculations.

Excel users can install two free downloads to obtain ‘Mathcad-like’ functionality to produce live calculation sheets. A live calculation sheet will not only perform the calculation it will also present the underlying equations so that the calculation method is transparent to the reader. This is important for engineers, scientists and students so that calculations can be independently checked and endorsed. Now Excel is more useful to the structural engineer who needs to show that he has satisfied building regulations, the physicist who needs to show how to calculate the half life of a radioactive isotope or the student showing his teacher how he calculated the roots of a quadratic equation. Best of all, as the calculations are saved in Excel format, files can be distributed with a degree of certainty that any recipient will be able to read and reused them. This is not at all certain for calculations prepared with specialist software like Mathcad.

The XLC Addin - This software can be downloaded from http://www.excelcalcs.com/ and it displays cell formulas as mathematical equations so that calculations can be read like a math text book. The site also features a library of live calculation sheets using Excel. The Addin has been developed by John Doyle. He is a UK chartered mechanical engineer, a graduate of Imperial College London and has presented a number of papers at the UK Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Working as a consultant in the fields of finite element analysis, test and simulation he has considerable knowledge of what is required of engineering calculations. His analysis and testing services have been used for railway vehicles, construction equipment, oil and gas plant, cranes and mechanical items for theme parks. He lives in Leeds which is located in the UK.

The ChangeUnits Addin - No one likes doing manual unit conversions: they are tedious, error-prone, and shift the focus from the underlying (and interesting) science and engineering to a mind-numbing chore. The ChangeUnits Addin from http://www.changeunits.com/ is designed to make this easy for Excel users. The Addin has been developed by Tony Renshaw who has an A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley. As an engineer, he has worked on Space Station Freedom, designed washing machines and X-ray tubes at General Electric's Corporate Research and Development Center, and taught mechanical engineering as a professor at Columbia University. He holds seven US patents and has over 30 refereed publications. He currently lives in New York City and Hawaii.

Repository News

Update from Dr Tony Renshaw	changeunits ChangeUnits is the original natural syntax unit conversion add-in for Excel. ChangeUnits understands virtually any combination of units and automatically checks to make sure each conversion is valid. A video demonstration of the software is available online (although FireFox users require the MediaPlayerConnectivity Firefox extension).
New from Alex Tomanovich	TORSION9.xls "TORSION9.xls", for quick and simplified torsion analysis of W, S, M, and HP steel beams. The workbook contains 6 calculation worksheets, each of which deals with a specific beam and torsional loading configuration. The combined stress ratio is determined as well as the angle of twist. The torsion analysis is based on the formulas found in the USS Steel Design Manual (1981). When applicable, I have used this reference for torsion analysis for years. The results for the cases considered compare very favorably to results obtained from the AISC Design Guide #9, "Torsional Analysis of Structural Steel Members", as well as other references with much more involved solutions. While this workbook deals with rather simplistic cases of torsion on beams, it should still prove useful for "quickie" solutions and conservative checks on torsional effects when required. Sorry, it's still more AISC 9th Edition ASD stuff. I'll be moving on to the AISC 13th Edition.....eventually.
Update from Alex Tomanovich	BEAMANAL.xls I made a minor change to the "Code Check" worksheet of the "BEAMANAL.xls workbook. Similar to the change that I made in some of the other workbooks related to structural steel design, I removed the input data validation which originally limited the user to specific values of Fy =33, 36, or 50 ksi. The updated workbook is now version 2.4.
Update from Alex Tomanovich	MONORAIL.xls A potential "quirk" was found in the "MONORAIL.xls" workbook. From Table 6 (Values of Cb) on page 5-121 of the AISC 9th Edition Manual, the minimum value of the bending coefficient (Cb) is 1.0. A value of 1.0 for Cb is what is used most of the time in design, even if conservative. However, if for the cantilever portion of the monorail beam the user chooses to use the Lbo and Cbo values as determined off of the calculation page to the right per the AISC Journal Article by N.S. Tanner, then the calculated value of Cbo can be < 1.0. (The subscript "o" refers to the overhang or cantilever portion of the monorail beam). Specifically for the situation of a member with Lbo <= Lu and with an input value of Cbo < 1.0, the two worksheets were ignoring an input value of Cbo < 1.0, treating Cbo as if it were = 1.0, and thus deferring to Fb = 0.6*Fy. This problem involving the use of a Cbo value < 1.0 did not occur for Lbo > Lu. Again, this potential problem would have only arisen if a value of Cbo < 1.0 was used from the Tanner article in conjunction with Lbo <= Lu. The corrections have been made, and the updated workbook is now version 1.7.
elevator engineer	LiftTools1.xls Solved problems from the Elevator Traffic Handbook
New from Sumnerdave	Anchor Reinforcement "Anchor Reinf.xls" is a MS-Excel spreadsheet workbook for the analysis of anchor bolt reinforcement to supplement tension/shear concrete breakout per ACI 318-08, Appendix D (Section D5.2.9 / D6.2.9). The spreadsheet is designed to find the embedment strength of determined reinforcement within certain concrete parameters. Design References: 1. ACI 318-08 2. Strength Design of Anchorage to Concrete by Ronald A. Cook

Forum News

Follow some interesting discussions in the forum. Thank you all but especially timmythetank and MajorMagee.

Topic/Forum	New posts	Latest post author	Posted at
BOEF.xls Forum : Repository Discussion	2	ATomanovich	2009/06/01 15:03
"ExcelCalcs" videos Forum : Website Issues	2	JohnDoyle	2009/05/29 15:43
Stress Life Fatigue.xls [Page: 1,2] Forum : Repository Discussion	7	MajorMagee	2009/05/22 16:05
Is there a limit to number of equations? Forum : XLC Issues	3	srmech_engr	2009/05/20 05:32
import image data [Page: 1,2] Forum : Repository Requests	11	JohnDoyle	2009/05/14 14:30
XLC for Education Forum : XLC Issues	2	JohnDoyle	2009/05/12 01:22
Reading graphical and tabular data with Excel Forum : ExcelCalcs TV	4	MajorMagee	2009/05/11 17:16
Spreadsheet links for discussion [Page: 1,2] Forum : Other Repository Issues	8	timmythetank	2009/05/09 05:12
Membership canceled? I think not! Forum : Miscellaneous Topics	1	JohnDoyle	2009/05/06 17:32
Using Excel trendlines to generate equations from complex graphical or tabular data Forum : ExcelCalcs TV	1	JohnDoyle	2009/05/06 13:34