Teaching Structural Steel Design Using Mathcad Program

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the integration of Mathcad programming in a steel design course at the University of Qatar. It discusses the advantages of Mathcad programming over other programming formats and provides guidelines to incorporate Mathcad programming into the steel design course. A Mathcad program for the analysis and design of steel beams is presented to show the attractive computational environment of Mathcad. The importance of Mathcad programming in teaching steel design courses is also illustrated. Successful integration of Mathcad programming as a teaching and learning tool in the steel design course resulted in an increased students' understanding of structural analysis and design.