FINITE ELEMENT STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS ON AN EXCEL

SPREADSHEET

Richard Campbell, P.E., S.E.


COURSE NO: S04-003
CREDIT: 4 PDH
PRICE: $96

Cours H!"#$!"#%s
This continuing education online PDH course is NY approved. This course is also accepted in the States o !", !#, !R, DE,
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Conventional thin.ing is that $inite Element /$E0 anal1sis is comple2 and re3uires e2pensive commercial
sot4are. $inite element sot4are and spreadsheet sot4are are t4o essential tools or structural engineers.
This course combines the t4o into a $E spreadsheet that puts the po4er o $E method into the versatilit1 o
a spreadsheet.

The user is provided 4ith a 'icrosot E2cel spreadsheet that solves $E t4o dimensional /5D0 rame6t1pe
structural engineering problems. This spreadsheet is simplistic in comparison to commercial sot4are and
much more limited in capabilities, but is completel1 ade3uate or man1 structural building rame6t1pe
problems. The spreadsheet is used to teach all the steps in a inite element problem. The entire problem is
inclusive on one spreadsheet7 the user can see input, ormulas, intermediate calculated values, and output
on one sheet. This ma.es it eas1 or the user to ollo4 the steps in the problem solution, 4hile the
spreadsheet handles the data.

The course is divided into 89 sections, covering the ollo4ing general topics:

Deinitions and terminolog1
$inite Element e2amples using the $E Spreadsheet
$E Theor1
Capabilities and #imitations o the $E spreadsheet
Summar1

This online PDH course is applicable to structural design engineers 4or.ing 4ith a beam, truss, rame or
elastic oundation problems. The user is e2pected to:

have E2cel ;.< or higher sot4are
have a 4or.ing understanding o spreadsheet ormulas /*isual =asic programming and macro s.ills
are not necessar10
be able to create a structural 5D rame model 4ith nodes and members
be a4are o matri2 mathematics /addition, multiplication and inversion o matrices0, although
detailed .no4ledge o matrices is not needed.

&n this course, 1ou need to revie4 the course document titled >$inite Element Structural !nal1sis on an E2cel
Spreadsheet?. &n addition, 1ou need to revie4 the t4o E2cel spreadsheets or structural calculations
associated 4ith this course. !ll course documents are provided belo4. (nce 1ou complete 1our course
revie4, 1ou need to ta.e a multiple6choice 3ui@ consisting o t4ent1 ive /5;0 3uestions to earn 9 PDH
credits. The 3ui@ 4ill be based on all three documents.

L&r'!'" O()*%!+s
This continuing education course is intended to provide 1ou 4ith the ollo4ing speciic
.no4ledge and s.ills:
The characteristics o truss, beam and rame6t1pe members
The characteristics o node data A member data
The dierence bet4een local coordinates A global coordinates
*arious methods to chec. calculated computer results
The dierence bet4een continuous versus discreti@ed s1stems
The basic assumptions underl1ing $E theor1
*arious methods to simpli1 comple2 $E problems
The theor1 used to solve a $E problem
The beneits, uses and limitations o the provided $E spreadsheet

Cours Do*u,'%
To vie4, print and stud1 the course document, please clic. on the ollo4ing
attachment/s0:
Finite Element Structural Analysis on an Excel Spreadsheet (3.19 MB)

Excel Spreadsheet 1: FEM 1! 3"M (#" $B)

Excel Spreadsheet #: FEM %!ode %Mem (1&3 $B)

& 1ou need !crobat Reader to vie4 and print this document, please clic. on the
ollo4ing lin. to do4nload a ree version o !crobat Reader.

Cours -u!.
To earn 1our PDH credits, 1ou 4ill need to bu1 the course and ta.e the 3ui@ b1 clic.ing
on the ollo4ing lin.:
Buy the 'ourse and (a)e the *ui+

& 1ou have an1 3uestion, please contact us at inoBcedengineering.com.