Category Archives: Newton

Buckling of columns with varying cross section

Following a post in the Eng-Tips Forum about finding the buckling load of a stepped strut I have modified the Frame4 spreadsheet to carry out a buckling analysis of any straight member subject to axial load, including stepped or tapered cross … Continue reading

Posted in Beam Bending, Excel, Frame Analysis, Newton, VBA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Solving cubic and quartic equations with Excel

Although in earlier posts (such as this one) I have referred to some User Defined Functions (UDFs)  for solving cubic and quartic equations, I just realised recently that I haven’t actually talked about them here, and since they are in … Continue reading

Posted in Excel, Maths, Newton, UDFs, VBA | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

The hole through the middle of the Earth – moved to the Equator

Previous posts in this series assumed that the hole went from pole to pole, and ignored such complications as tidal effects and wobbles of the axis of rotation.  In this post we will examine the effect of moving the hole … Continue reading

Posted in Differential Equations, Excel, Maths, Newton, UDFs, VBA | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lateral pile analyis with PY curves …

… and non-linear pile properties. In previous posts I have presented Excel User Defined Functions (UDFs) to analyse a laterally loaded pile, generate soil PY Curves based on the recommendations in the COM624 Manual, and determine the flexural stiffness of cracked … Continue reading

Posted in Concrete, Excel, Geotechnical Engineering, Newton, UDFs, VBA | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Arches, anagrams and plagiarism

A previous post discussed Robert Hooke’s solution for the optimum shape of an ach structure standing under its own weight: “Ut pendet continuum flexile, sic stabit contiguum rigidum inversum” which translates as: “As hangs the flexible line, so but inverted will … Continue reading

Posted in Arch structures, Newton | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments