Use of spreadsheets with scaled graphics to teach structural engineering

Abstract

Engineering is a profession where graphical presentation is very important in understanding and verifying results. Geometric proportions, spacing, and other features can be clearly perceived if a scaled graph is displayed together with the calculations, and thus, the engineering student can make better decisions about the final design. Overall, these spreadsheets with graphical capabilities help the learning process. The use of Excel spreadsheets in engineering education and professional practice is frequent because this tool is versatile and powerful. However, a deficiency of spreadsheets is the lack of graphic representation. This may be solved by using the programming tools of Visual Basic for Applications® (VBA) that is included in the package of Microsoft Office®. This paper presents a method to include scaled graphs into a spreadsheet, which completes the engineering calculations and helps in the final decision to accept or modify a design. These graphs are also useful in the drafting process, because the graphs can be easily transferred into any computer assisted drafting (CAD) program. Several actual class examples are included. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.