Eurocode design sheets for structural engineers

Every now and then, I review structural engineering software here at PhD Talk. The last review is from a time ago, and dealt with Codeform and Codeproof, sheets that help designers and that are based on the Eurocodes.

Today, I'm reviewing Carlo Sigmund's Eurocodes Spreadsheets. This January, the Eurocode Spreadsheets are available for sale, and I've had the chance to have a look at these sheets before they were released to the market.

To software of the Eurocode spreadsheets is aimed at students, novice engineers as well as licensed professional civil engineers, designers and architects.

If you want a quick idea of what the design sheets look like, watch this video:



Let's now look at the advantages and disadvantages of the software

Advantages

Helps interpreting the Eurocodes

As the spreadsheets contain all the requirements from the Eurocodes, and let the user select what is applicable for the design he/she is working on, the software has taken on the task of sorting out those issues of where the Eurocodes aren't really clear. As you can see in the following screenshot, if you select, for example, your consequences class, the sheet will continue with the associated reliability index and safety factors.



Additional information

Here and there, the sheets have a built-in textbook function, which describes some concepts that might not be familiar to all practicing engineers. An example is the explanation of a gamma distribution:



Ready to be printed for reports

The sheets have a printing functionality, so that you can simply click the button and get a printed version of the sheet, which can be added to a design report.

Teaches you to use the Eurocodes

For those designing engineers who didn't grow up with the Eurocodes, and need to make the step from previoulsy used national codes to the Eurocodes, the suite of spreadsheets can be a great tool to learn using the Eurocodes. With the additional information, as well as with the fact that the sheets help the designers interpret the codes, the sheets can be a great tool to understand what the requirements of the Eurocodes are.

Comprehensive software

The software is very comprehensive. It is organized per Eurocode, and of every Eurocode it contains all the subcodes and annexes. There's nothing left to the designer to go and look up in the code. In fact, for all that is programmed, the sheets function as an interactive version of the code.

Disadvantages

Not geared towards member design

Since the sheets are organized in exactly the same way as the Eurocodes themselves, the sheets are not fully geared towards member design. The goal of the sheets is to facilitate design (manual or through finite element software), and as such helps the designer make the choices for, for example, input of the right load and resistance factors. However, the designer will have to either cobble together pieces of the spreadsheet to help him with member design, or take some information from the sheets and then use that as input for a design calculation.

Five helpful websites

In today's sea of information, I selected a few websites which are part of my daily toolbox.

1. Rescuetime
Together with ManicTime (which does not depend on internet connection), these timetracking software tools have greatly increased not only my productivity, but also my understanding of how I divide my time and how I can take most benefit out of it.

2. GoogleReader
I used to check several websites and blogs at random times. GoogleReader has become the portal through which I manage updates from sites and blogs

3. Diigo
The Diigo toolbar and library website help me to save interesting articles for later, make lists of favorite sites, highlight excerpts of websites here and there and tag all this information into relevant categories.

4. BeoLingus
This extensive, easy-to-operate online dictionary German-English has helped me through several German papers.

5. Scopus
Scopus has become the search engine to which I turn for finding papers and technical documents.

In the background: Grooveshark
When last.fm turned into a paid service, I searched for an alternative, and ended up really enjoying Grooveshark.

Which websites have become an integral part of your daily work and research experience?

Software review: Codeform and Codeproof

Over the past week, I’ve been trying out a software package for structural engineering which combines a traditional calculation program (Codeform) with preprogrammed spreadsheets for all Eurocodes (Codeproof). Over a 1000 prefabricated formulas are available in the Eurocode library.

When I learned about this software, I became very curious to test it out. I download the 5-days trial version and, as an example, used the predefined Codeproof sheet to calculate the shear capacity of a concrete slab under a concentrated load (as shown here).
I used the trial version which can be found at Technosoft’s website for Codeform en Codeproof.

Here are my first impressions of the software package:

Advantages

Very easy to learn

It took me only 20 minutes to turn the existing Codeproof sheet into a sheet which can be used for calculating the expected values of my experiments according to Eurocode 2. I had never used Codeform before, but it is very easy to operate.

Presentation format

The sheets are preprogrammed and look very professional with respect to their layout. In the two printscreens I took, you can see how it looks. The sheets are ready to be printed out and implemented in a report. The calculation is made clear by displaying the formulas at full, in contrast to the ‘hidden formulas’ which result from printing out Excel output.

Flexible format

Since Codeform is a very user-friendly engine, it is very easy to make changes to the existing Codeproof sheets and develop them into your own spreadsheet.

Suitable for design offices

Since this software package contains standard sheets for all Eurocodes, it is the perfect tool for design offices. No more need to spend hours on developing in-house standard spreadsheets for frequently used calculations. The interpretation of the Eurocodes has also been done and the right links to previous chapters or paragraphs were made.

Learn to use the Eurocodes

For designers abroad who are not familiar with the Eurocodes, this tool could be a great way to get acquainted with the Eurocodes. It shows you how to use the code, how to calculate with it, and how to interpret it.

Disadvantage

Dimensionless calculations

Unlike some other packages, CodeForm does not use dimenions. If you would need to switch between English and SI units, then you’ll have to add the right conversion factors yourself.


Are you curious to test out this software too? You can head to the website and use the 5-day trial of the software.