Spreadsheet Applications for Modelling and Analysis in Mechanical Engineering

This paper outlines a number of different applications of spreadsheet solutions to mechanical engineering problems involving ideal fluid flow, two-dimensional heat transfer, plate bending and torsion of non-circular sections. The general utility of a spreadsheet in handling finite difference equations is further illustrated in an application to simulate the dynamic response of a DC voltage controlled servo-motor. Finally, since most spreadsheets also incorporate the common logical operators then any arbitrary Boolean function can be manipulated with any range of input logic states. Details are therefore included in the paper on the application of a spreadsheet to simulate and test the operation of a prototype digital logic circuit. The educational advantages in using a spreadsheet are highlighted in the variety of engineering problems which can be solved without having to resort to the specialist and generally more expensive finite element software packages.