SPREADSHEETS HAVE BECOME NEARLYUBIQUITOUS among structural engi-neers because of the ease with

which repetitive calculations can bedone for a series of variables. When adesign spreadsheet needs informationfor different steel sections, the most effi-cient way to get this information is tolink the design spreadsheet to the AISCDatabase, which is available for $60 ineither U.S. or metric units (call 312-670-5444).

This database stores the dimensionsand properties for each steel section list-ed in the Manual of Steel Construction.Accessing it allows for automatic lookupand input of data that would otherwiseneed to be physically referenced andentered into a spreadsheet. This simpleautomation process will allow a job to bedone faster and will lower the possibili-ty for errors to occur. Only a section’sdesignation needs to be entered into adesign spreadsheet, which can be pro-grammed to retrieve the necessaryinformation from the database.

ProcedureAlthough there are many ways of

using the database, one easy way is touse Microsoft’s Excel 97—a procedurewhich is outlined below. (A modestamount of Excel knowledge is needed tofollow this procedure. To become morefamiliar with Excel, an excellent refer-ence book is Excel for Scientists andEngineers by William J. Orvis.)Although this procedure is for Excel 97,a similar procedure can easily be devel-oped for Lotus 1-2-3 or Quattro Prospreadsheets.

There are three necessary steps thatneed to be completed before the data-base can be accessed from a designspreadsheet. The steps include the fol-lowing:1. Loading the database into an Excel

Modern Steel Construction / March 1999

spreadsheet.2. Modifications to the database

spreadsheet.3. Linking your design spreadsheet to

the database spreadsheet.

Step 1: Loading the Databaseinto an Excel Spreadsheet

AISC provides the database in anASCII text format. However, to be ableto load the database into a spreadsheet,it must first be converted into what iscalled a comma-delimited text file. AISCincludes the program CONV123 on thedatabase disk to complete the conver-sion.

The procedure to convert the ASCIItext format database to a comma-delim-ited text file is described on page 7 ofAISC’s document readme.doc includedon the database disk. Print and readthis document. The steps below furtherexpand on AISC’s procedure. It shouldbe noted that Windows 95 is used in thefollowing procedure:1. Insert AISC’s disk into drive A:2. From Windows, select Start,

Program, MS-DOS prompt. 3. Change to the A: prompt. At the

MS-DOS prompt, type A: <Enter>. 4. Load AISC’s basic program. Type

Basic/S:256 <Enter>.5. Load AISC’s file to complete the

conversion. Type Load“A:CONV123” <Enter>

6. Run AISC’s conversion file. TypeRun <Enter>

7. When the conversion is complete,the basic program will automatical-ly return to the MS-DOS prompt.

8. Exit the MS-DOS prompt. TypeExit <Enter>

The above procedure creates thedatabase comma-delimited text filesAisc1.prn and Aisc2.prn on the AISCdisk. These files can be imported intoExcel 97. The file Aisc1.prn contains

USING SPREADSHEETS FORSTEEL DESIGN

The AISC Database can easily be linked to a designspreadsheet to simplify repetitive calculations

By Carol J.Drucker, S.E.,

P.E

data for W, M, S, WT, MT, ST, C, MCand HP shapes. The file Aisc2.prn con-tains data for angle, double angle, HSSand pipe shapes. Only the file Aisc1.prnwill be further discussed below.However, the same procedure can beused for Aisc2.prn.

To load Aisc1.prn into an Excel 97spreadsheet the following steps areneeded:1. Start Excel 972. Choose the commands File, Open. 3. The File Open dialog box will

appear. At the File of type dropdown list box, select All Files (*.*)

4. At the File name box type a:<Enter>

5. The files on drive A: will appear.Double click on the file Aisc1.prn.

6. Next, Excel’s Text Import Wizardappears to import the file. The TextImport Wizard contains three steps.These steps are the following:

a. In the original data type box,select the Delimited file typethen click to the next window.

b. In the delimiter box, select theComma delimiter then click tothe next window.

c. In the Column data formatbox, select the General col-umn data format. Click on fin-ish to import the file.

7. Now that the text file is imported, itcan be saved as an Excel 97 work-book. Choose the commands File,Save As.

8. The File Save dialog box willappear. At the Save as type dropdown list box, select MicrosoftExcel Workbook (*.xls)

9. At the File name box, type the work-book name and directory where youwant to store the database spread-sheet. For example, typec:\aisc\Aisc_database and clickon Save.

The Conversion of the database to aspreadsheet is now completed.

Step 2: Modifications to theDatabase Spreadsheet

Before the database spreadsheet canbe accessed from your design spread-sheet, one slight modification needs tobe made. Each section’s designationmust be added to the database spread-sheet.

This modification to the databasespreadsheet is needed to create the link

between your design spreadsheet andthe database spreadsheet. Before thetwo spreadsheets can be linked (follow-ing this procedure), they must havecommon values that can be cross-refer-enced. The most practical common val-ues to use are the section designations.Although AISC’s database does not listeach particular section designation, itdoes list each section’s shape, the nomi-nal depth, and weight per foot. Thesevalues can be joined to create the sec-tion designations.

It is noted that usually any modifica-tions to any computer software areundesirable. However, for this particu-lar case, the benefits of modification faroutweigh the cons. Complete the follow-ing modification to the database spread-sheet:1. In the database spreadsheet, insert

a new column A (i.e. click on a cellin column A and then select theInsert, Column command).

2. In cell A1 type the command=B1&C1&”x”&D1 and copy it downthe column. One possible way tocopy this command is the following:

a. Click on the cell (A1) to becopied.

b. Select the Edit, Copy com-mand.

c. Drag vertically to the end of

Modern Steel Construction / March 1999

The database can beeasily modified asdemonstrated inFigure 1 (above) andFigure 2 (left).

the range where this cell is tobe copied (i.e. to cell A676).

3. Save the revised database spread-sheet (i.e. File, Save).

The command in item 2 above joinsthe contents of columns B, C and D (thesection’s shape, nominal depth andweight per foot) of the database spread-sheet into one text string and inserts an“x” between the values in column C andD. In the first row of the databasespreadsheet, this command should giveW44x335 (the section’s designation).Figures 1 and 2 show an illustration ofthis command and a revised portion ofthe database spreadsheet.

Step 3: Linking your designspreadsheet to the databasespreadsheet

Now that the database conversionprocess has been completed, the data-base spreadsheet is ready to be

accessed. The database spreadsheet canbe accessed from within your designspreadsheet using Excel’sVLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup) commandand the database documentReadme.doc. In the documentReadme.doc, it lists the columns of thedatabase that each shape property isstored. For instance, from this docu-ment it can be seen that a section’sweight is in the fourth column of thedatabase spreadsheet since “WGT” isthe third variable listed. It should benoted that the weight, “WGT”, is now inthe fourth column in lieu of the thirdcolumn since one was added. (SeeFigure 3.)

To illustrate how to use theVLOOKUP command, the following isan example of what would be input intoyour design spreadsheet in order to geta section’s depth:

=VLOOKUP(A1,’C:\aisc\[Aisc_database.xls]AISC1’!$A$1:$AN$676,7,FALSE)

Where:1. A1 - is the cell address in your

design spreadsheet that has thevlookup_value (i.e. section designa-tion) which will be referenced in thedatabase spreadsheet. This could beany cell address.

2. ‘C:\aisc\ - is the path to the filewhere the database spreadsheet isstored. This path may vary depend-ing on where you store the databasespreadsheet on your computer.

3. [Aisc_database.xls] - is the databasespreadsheet (i.e. source workbook)name. Note that this name must bein square brackets.

4. AISC1 - is the worksheet name thatis to be referenced. It should benoted that AISC has renamed thedefault worksheet name, Sheet1, toAISC1. The worksheet name mustbe followed by an exclamation point.

5. $A$1:$AN$676 - is the range inwhich all information in the data-base spreadsheet is stored. For moreefficiency, this range could bechanged for each different shape.For instance, if only information forW-Sections were needed, the rangecould be changed to $A$1:$AN$268.This reduced range is the rangewhere only information for the W-Sections is stored. (Note, the “$” isused so that the range listed will notchange as the command is copied to

Modern Steel Construction / March 1999

Figure 3

other cell locations.)6. 7 - is the number of cells horizontal-

ly from the lookup_value cell (in thedatabase spreadsheet) that storesthe value that will be returned toyour design spreadsheet. If thisnumber were 1, then thelookup_value itself would bereturned. Since the number for thiscase is 7, the section’s depth will bereturned since it is 7 cells horizon-tally from the cell where the sec-tion’s designation is stored.

7. False - is used so that theVLOOKUP command will only workif an exact match is found. Theexact section designation input intoyour design spreadsheet mustmatch a section designation in thedatabase spreadsheet or an errormessage (#N/A) will occur. It shouldbe noted that Excel does not differ-entiate between capital and lowercase letters. Hence, a W24X55 is thesame as w24x55.

The VLOOKUP command links yourdesign spreadsheet to the databasespreadsheet. Now, when you open yourdesign spreadsheet, a message willappear asking if you want to update thelink. (This message only appears whenthe database file is not opened.) Click on“Yes” or “No” and continue. It should benoted that the database spreadsheetdoes not need to be opened for theVLOOKUP command to retrieve data.

ExampleTo illustrate the above steps,

Figures 4 and 5 show a simple designspreadsheet that determines the deflec-tion of simply supported beams. Thedesign spreadsheet is programmed to gointo the database spreadsheet and getthe moment of inertia, Ix, for W shapedbeams. It will then calculate5*w*L4/(384EIx) to determine thedeflection of the beam. Figure 4 showsthe actual design spreadsheet com-

mands while Figure 5 shows the finaldesign spreadsheet printout.

ConclusionThe design spreadsheet in Figures 4

and 5 is a simple example to illustratehow useful the database can be for verysimple or complex spreadsheets. Once adesign spreadsheet is programmed, auser only needs to input a section desig-nation and the spreadsheet will deter-mine the other desired information.This can be done quickly and accuratelyfor a series of steel sections makingspreadsheets a very powerful designtool.

Modern Steel Construction / March 1999

Figure 4 (above)shows the actualdesign spreadsheetcommands whileFigure 5 (left) showsthe final designspreadsheet printout.

Carol J. Drucker, S.E., P.E. is presidentof Max Engineering, Inc. in Naperville,IL.