8/20/08 Update – COMMENTS NEEDED

Just a note to keep you posted as to our progress.

For those interested (although irrelevant to Multi-Lat™, the mountain range shown on the top of the Blog is actually the Santa Rosa Mountains located within walking distance of my home in La Quinta where my office is located in a small room off the front of my home. I’ve been a Small Office / Home Office sole-proprietorship for the last 22 years and at this location since 1993. It gets very hot in the summer (I’ve been here when it reached 130-degrees in August). Similar to those in cold climates, we tend to restrict daytime activities in the summer. Winter temperatures are wonderful – typically in the upper 60’s to 80’s during the days and down into the 40’s at night.  But, enought trivia – not to the business at hand.

I have made some changes in the design appearance. I have added an area in the title block for users to add a logo in JPEG and other popular formats. I would suggest that you keep the resolution of the JPEG small enough to appear well in print but not so large as to increase the file size.

Most sheets are now laid out in horizontal or layout format in order to increase the information on the sheet as well as to add graphics such as the roof zones that appear in the code for users to clearly define wind forces. I have also added the tables used in the wind loads with the appropriate footnotes to the resource in ASCE 7-05 that it appears. This does not eliminate your need to purchase a code, but makes look up values for wind speed and zones to be easier to follow. Also, you need not interpolate λ values as I have created tables with intermediate wind loads that will allow you to look up on λ value rather than a range to interpolate. The values are fairly linear and interpolation is easy enough to have put into an automate lookup table based on the basic wind categories B, C, and D.

In the seismic section you need not declare ASD or LFRD – you will be give both and the declaration will occur in the lateral multi-story distribution.

We are still using Excel 2007 until the workbook is completed and time will allow to have the styles stripped out and converted for Excel 97-2007 and the Star Office freeware.

I must remind you that your participation and comments are needed. I will only provide licensing in payment for feedback in the Alpha and Beta versions. I need comments as to the accuracy of the spreadsheet and any recommendations that you may have to improve the input and output – including color schemes. Most important is the output for base shear and wind loads. So far only one or two of the nearly 20 Beta Members have provided me with feedback. If you find the workbook difficult or do not understand something, then feed me your questions and I will help you resolve them. This will assist me in creating a manual and online example or tutorial as it is most likely others will also have the same concerns as you.

To qualify for a licensed version and updates, I require participation in the Beta program. I keep your comments and if you feel uncomfortable writing them to this blog then feel free to send them to me privately and I will reword them and post them anonomosly. You will still be qualified to receive a full licensed version for your participation.

If you disagree with a method or and assumption I’ve used, please let me know. It is a learning process for me as well as for you and I welcome an intelligent debate as to the meaning of the code assumption or compliance. If I am incorrect, I will make the changes necessary and if I am correct, you may also benefit from the knowledge.

Please help me get this program finished by submitting your comments and checking the spreadsheet in each stage against the work you do manually. This is the greatest test to show code compliance and reduce the errors or inaccuracies that Beta testing is to uncover.

Thanks to those who have been supplying me with comments and help – at this point I believe we are looking at completion closer to the end of the year although I am attempting to use as much of Multi-Lat 2008 in the current design of a two story custom home here in the desert.

Best regards,

Dennis S. Wish, PE

Administrator / developer

~ by structuralist on August 28, 2008.