Where to Find an Excel Spreadsheet for Allowable Stress Design of Beams
For an Excel spreadsheet for allowable stress design of beams, click here to visit our spreadsheet store. Obtain a convenient, easy to use spreadsheet for allowable stress design of beams at a reasonable price. Read on for information about the use of deflection limits and serviceability requirements for simply supported beam design.
Background for Allowable Stress Design of Beams
Design of a simply supported beam with uniform distributed load can be carried out as follows. Based on inputs of span length, elastic modulus, live load, dead load, allowable bending stress, deflection limit for live load and deflection limit for live load and dead load acting simultaneously, the equations in the next section can be used to calculate maximum moment, maximum shear, elastic section modulus, and minimum moments of inertia required to satisfy the constraints on deflection. The equations can also be used to check on whether a known design satisfies strength and deflection requirements.
Equations for Allowable Stress Design of Beams
Equations for the first step in allowable stress design of beams calculations are as follows for a simply supported beam subject to a uniform distributed load:
Mmax = wL2/8, where
- Mmax = maximum moment in the beam
- w = distributed load on the beam
- L = length of span
Vmax = wL/2, where
- Vmax = maximum shear in the beam
- w and L are as defined above
Mallow = SFb, where
- Mallow = the allowable moment in the beam
- S = elastic section modulus of the beam
- Fb = maximum allowable stress in the beam
ymax = 5wL4/(384EI), where
- ymax = the maximum deflection in the beam
- E = elastic modulus of the beam
- I = moment of inertia of the cross section of the beam
ymax < L/Ld, where
- Ld is a dimensionless number specified by code, depending on structural application and load type (typically Ld = 120, 180, 240, 360, or 600)
A Spreadsheet for Allowable Stress Design of Beams
The screenshot below shows an Excel spreadsheet for allowable stress design of beams. Based on inputs of span length, elastic modulus, live load, dead load, allowable bending stress, deflection limit for live load and deflection limit for dead load, the spreadsheet can be used to calculate maximum moment, maximum shear, elastic section modulus, and minimum moments of inertia required to satisfy the constraints on deflection.
For low cost, easy to use spreadsheets to make these calculations in S.I. or U.S. units, as well as checking with a known design to see if strength and deflection requirements are met, click here to visit our spreadsheet store.
