Cold Formed Steel Design Spreadsheet

Cold Formed Steel Members

Steel members used for structural steel design can be formed either hot or cold. Cold forming processes are carried in near room temperature conditions as opposed to hot forming techniques which require the steel to be heated. Cold forming techniques include rolling, pressing, stamping and bending of the steel to form the required section shapes.

Cold formed steel shapes include very thin sections such as Z or C shaped purlins which can be easily shaped at room temperature by passing the steel through a series of dies.

Cold formed steel has been available since the 19^th century but a lack of accepted design standards limited its use in structural applications. The thin walled sections are susceptible to buckling failure and this delayed the formation of accepted design standards compared to hot rolled steel sections with much thicker sections. In the middle of the 20^th century design standards began to be formalised and accepted in the US and Europe. Cold formed steel is now commonly used in all kinds of construction, particularly for secondary sections such as joists, purlins and bracing members where buckling failure is less critical.

Cold Formed Steel Design

The CivilWeb Cold Formed Steel Design Excel Spreadsheet Suite includes a total of over 20 different design sheets spread over 4 main sections.

1. Steel Angle Design – This spreadsheet can be used to design steel angle sections. Separate spreadsheets are included for the design of Angle sections in tension, biaxial bending and shear. The spreadsheets include pre-set details for all standard European sections designed to the Eurocode 1993, and US standard sections designed to AISC standards.
2. Steel Channel Design – This includes spreadsheets for the design of C or Channel sections to the Eurocode or to AISC standards. The European design spreadsheets include pre-set details for PFC, UPE, RSC and UPN sections and can design channel sections for biaxial bending, shear, bearing and buckling. The AISC spreadsheet includes all standard C section details and can design channel sections in tension only.
3. Z Purlin Design – This spreadsheet includes two separate spreadsheets for the design of standard Z purlin sections and non-standard Z purlin sections of any dimensions. These spreadsheets undertake the calculations in accordance with BS 5950-5.
4. C Purlin Design – This excel spreadsheet can be used to design C purlins of any dimensions in accordance with the requirements of BS 5950-5.

Each design spreadsheet includes a user friendly format and requires minimal inputs from the user. Typically the user only needs to enter the section details, loading details and sometimes the loading type and effective length. The spreadsheets then complete the calculations instantly. Each spreadsheet also includes a dynamic diagram showing the section dimensions. This prevents the designer from accidentally entering the wrong section size.

Many of the excel spreadsheets include our unique section picker tools which analyse all the standard section sizes and returns a list of the sections best suited to the design loading conditions. This saves the designer from having to try multiple sections in order to find the best solution. They can simply pick the best suited section straight away.

Each spreadsheet includes detailed geometric and design information from all standard member sizes, more than 1,000 in total including European and AISC sizes. This allows the designer to ensure that the most economical section is chosen for all situations.

The CivilWeb Cold Formed Steel Design Excel Spreadsheet Suite includes unique design analysis graphs for use in every design sheet. These graphs show the designer the effects of any alterations to the key design criteria. This shows the designer exactly where the proposed design can be optimised, saving time on iterative calculations.

CivilWeb Cold Formed Steel Design Spreadsheet Suite

The CivilWeb Cold Formed Steel Design Spreadsheet Suite includes more than 20 different design sheets for both European and US cold formed steel design. This includes detailed design sheets for steel angles, channels, Z purlins and C purlins. Each spreadsheet is easy to use and completes the calculations instantly allowing the designer to complete an optimised design to European or AISC standards in minutes.

Buy the CivilWeb Cold Formed Steel Design Spreadsheet Suite now for only £29.99.