Program Description:
“BRGPLT9” is a spreadsheet program written in MS-Excel for the purpose of the analysis and design of beam
bearing plates. This program is applicable to beams supported on concrete walls, pilasters, and piers in an
attempt to distribute the beam reaction over an area sufficient to keep the average bearing pressure within
acceptable limits. Specifically the program will check both the beam web shear and beam end bearing
capacity, determine the required bearing plate thickness, and determine the minimum beam flange
thickness required without a bearing plate.
This program is a workbook consisting of two (2) worksheets, described as follows:
Worksheet Name Description
Doc This documentation sheet
Beam Bearing Plate Beam bearing plate design
Program Assumptions and Limitations:
- This program uses the database of member dimensions and section properties from the “AISC Shapes
Database”, Version 3.0 (2001) as well as the AISC 9th Edition (ASD) Manual (1989). - The user may select from W, S, and M shapes.
- This program utilizes the procedure for the design of beam bearing plates from the AISC 9th Edition (ASD)
Manual (1989), pages 2-141 through 2-144. - This program will determine the required beam bearing plate thickness based upon the given input, and will
also determine the minimum beam flange thickness to sustain the reaction without using a bearing plate. - This program contains “comment boxes” which contain a wide variety of information including explanations
of input or output items, equations used, data tables, etc. (Note: presence of a “comment box” is denoted
by a “red triangle” in the upper right-hand corner of a cell. Merely move the mouse pointer to the desired
cell to view the contents of that particular “comment box”.)
