How to use the 80/20 Deflection Calculator

How to use the 80/20 Deflection Calculator
When you first start the Deflection Calculator, the Welcome Splash Screen appears for 5 seconds, then the Main Dialog box
appears as shown below.
There are six simple steps to do a calculation on a pre defined extrusion.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Select Extrusion
From the lists shown, select the extrusion you wish to calculate for. (If you are performing a calculation for some other beam,
that subject is covered later.) You will find in the available extrusions both Fractional and Metric. 1010 is the default
extrusion selected, and all labels are shown in fractional units. If you select a Metric extrusion, the labels are shown in Metric
Units.
Select Moment
Select which moment of inertia to use. The software assumes top loading, and the graphic will indicate the orientation of the
extrusion relative to a top load. When you select a Moment of Inertia (Ix or Iy) the Moment Data box will be populated with
the appropriate moment of inertia from the Extrusion Data list.
Type of Load
Select whether the load is a Point Load (assumed to be in the center of the extrusion) or Evenly Distributed.
Solve For
Choose which value (Length, Load, or Deflection) you wish to solve for based on the data that you have.
Input Known Data
Input the data you have into the appropriate boxes.
Solution
Pick the Calculate Button to perform the calculation with the data you have input. If you get the following warning message,
it is because you either did not fill in the Known Values, or selected the wrong Solve For option.
That is all there is to performing basic calculations.
If you are using an Other type of extrusion, you must have the material data for that element. Failure to input data will result in the
following warning message.
When Other is selected, and after your data is input, you can go to the pull down menu and pick File/Save. The default file name is the
Part No. or Description that you typed in the Extrusion Data area of the main dialog box. The file is saved in a *.PPC file.
You cannot save or modify standard extrusions.
After a file is saved, you can open it later and perform other calculations on it with varying lengths, loads, or deflection values.
All dialog boxed that you can edit the values in can also be CUT/COPY/PASTEd using either the CTRL-X, CTRL-C, CTRL-V key
sequences, by picking from the Edit pull down menu, or by the icons at the top of the dialog box.
Printing is also available, which will print the dialog box as it is currently filled out on your screen.
Conversion Calculator.
The Conversion Calculator is a useful feature to the program. Found in the Utilities pull down nenu, the Conversion Calculator
provides calculations for Fractional/ Metric, Metric/ Fractional, Fractional/ Fractional, and Metric/ Metric conversions in the areas
shown in the Conversion Type area of the dialog box shown below.
There are four easy steps to do a calculation.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pick the Conversion Type.
Pick the units to calculate from and to (From is on the Left and To is on the Right).
Input the value to convert from (ie. 14 inches)
Pick the “=” button to do the calculation.
Note: If you change either of the Units boxes, the calculation is automatically re-run.