Area Properties (including total area, area center
& moment of inertia) for Ship or Boat Cross Section
or other Large Complex Cross Section (English Units)
 

Description Computes cross sectional area properties of a complex framing member, like a ship or boat cross section, made up of a numerous components (Like a tees, angles, and flat bars that placed on various pieces of plate).  Area properties from this sheet can be used as a part of the process utilized to obtain flexural stress, average shear stress and deflection. 

Electronic Document Type:  Microsoft Excel spreadsheet           Cost: $32.00 US funds

Number of Pages: single sheet                        

Inputs:  

• overall depth of framing member (for all components combined)

• location of assumed neutral axis ANA (perpendicular to loading direction)

• For each Option One Component (flat bar or plating components) the following are required: description, cross section dimensions, distance to centroid from ANA, radius of gyration for convenience the method of obtaining this dimension is shown in a diagram on the spreadsheet.   The spreadsheet actually contains fifteen rows to accommodate fifteen Option One components.  With proper understanding the user may add additional rows if necessary.  Note that the example below only shows 6 rows.

• For each Option Two Component (tees, angle irons, channels, i beams, tubing, round bars or similar sections) the following are required: description, cross sectional area, distance to centroid (for determining distance to ANA), moment of inertia about own centroidal axis.  The last three datum are normally obtained from a tables, like those contained in the A. I. S. C. Manual of Steel Construction.  There are 20 rows to accommodate twenty Option Two members. An experienced Excel user may add more rows when required.  The example below only contains 5 rows.

Outputs:  

• total cross sectional area

• distance from cross sectional area centroid to the ANA

• moment of inertia of the complex cross section

• section modulus of the complex cross section

Items Included with the Product:

• A blank template for you to input data.

• A set of instructions on how to perform the analysis.

• A sample calculation already filled out.  It is recommended that each cell within the sample calculation be examined to fully grasp the techniques involved.

• A drawing of the sample cross section .

• A sheet containing the products standard "Use Terms."

Suggested Reading or References:

• any strength of materials text 

• Basic Ship Theory, Rawson and Tupper

• Principles of Naval Architecture, by SNAME

• A. I. S. C. Manual of Steel Construction

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Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Windows7

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Sample: A sample calculation and cross section are shown below.

Additional Comments: 

The inputs may seem a bit complicated at first.  But they are really easy to obtain and are clearly explained within the template instructions.  To assist with this process, there is a small simple diagram located on the spreadsheet, that shows the geometric characteristics that are required as inputs.

This complex section spreadsheet is different in several ways from the normal framing section modulus spreadsheet.  First it is assumed the cross section here is expected to contain a whole lot more components.  Second, the input distances from assumed neutral axis is in "feet" rather than "inches."  Third, some of the outputs are in different units.  The output distance between the ANA and the NA is in "feet" instead of "inches."  The output moment of inertia is in units of "feet squared x inches squared" instead of "inches to the fourth."  The output section modulus is in units of "inch squared x feet" instead of "inches cubed."  The units change was to keep the output numbers smaller and thus more manageable.  Traditional ship design practice also follows this mixed units route for large cross sections.

For each framing component of the section the user must select one of two options.  In Option One, which applies to flat bar and plating sections, the spreadsheet will automatically calculate the component's cross sectional area and moment of inertia.  For Option Two, component sectional properties are required from a geometric properties table such as those contained in the A. I. S. C. Manual of Steel Construction.  This option applies to components like tees, angles, I beams, channels, round bar, tubing, pipe, etc.

This spreadsheet is geared toward English or Imperial units of measure commonly used in the United States.  For determining moment of inertia and section modulus in metric units go the the metric units ship or complex section calculation spreadsheet.

For this spreadsheet to work all the components of the section must be of the same material.  For instance a section must be made out of all steel or out of all aluminum.  Another type of spreadsheet is required for a mixed material section (or composite section).