Scantling Library
Keeping track of structural members in a 5,000 ton jack-up barge can be hard work
Fortunately, a well-designed spreadsheet can make the process a whole lot easier. During my time at Global Maritime, I gave their scantling spreadsheet a reboot. The spreadsheet acts as a library of the different structural members that would be used in one of the ships they were building, to keep track of what is being used.
What's more, when the designer decides to use a certain size of stiffener, I-beam, or column, the spreadsheet can perform automatic checks against rules and regulations set out by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and alerts them if their chosen member doesn't pass the test.
I was tasked with double checking these automatic calculations against the specifications, as well as improving the usability of the library. I added a macro-enabled filtering function, allowing the designer to immediately find the structural member that would fit their requirements.
I also tweaked and tuned the little things: I created columns with intermediate calculations that usually remained hidden, keeping the library streamlined but allowing for easy quality control; I also sketched out a dimension convention for the different member shapes so othat the designer knew exactly what size and stiffness they would be selecting; finally, I chose the colour scheme to intuitively indicate which cells required input, and locked the rest to make sure a stray click would not break anything.