Utilization of EXCEL in solving structural analysis problems

Engineering educators are always searching for new and effective tools to speed up their computations, enhance their teaching, and elevate student learning. Currently, several different approaches in teaching structural engineering concepts are being investigated by the author. In this paper, the use of EXCEL spreadsheet software in analyzing structures is discussed employing several classical structural engineering methods. Using the developed spreadsheets in this project, the instructor can quickly generate and analyze a variety of problems with ease during the lecture to enhance student course comprehension. These spreadsheets can also be provided for the students to allow them verify the accuracy of their developed hand-solutions. Note that it is much more difficult to achieve the objectives described above using other commercial structural engineering software, since these packages are often quite expensive, more complex, and harder to work with. Many civil engineering and civil engineering technology faculty can neither afford to acquire this type of software in their institutions, nor they have time to teach the students how to use the software. The use of EXCEL spreadsheet package might be one easy solution to remedy these problems. This relatively inexpensive software is a component of the Microsoft Office suite which is already preinstalled in many computers when purchased, and is already available in many educational institutions through a site-license. Using this software many of the classical approaches associated with analyzing structurally determinate as well as indeterminate structures can be formulated with ease. The purpose of the presented paper is to illustrate some of the capabilities of this software package related to solving structural engineering problems through presenting and discussing the solution for two sample problems.