List of Contributions

Daniel, You're right, it seems this is much more common than I realized. I found a thread on eng-tips which had some really great resources and also some unhelpful curmudgeon-y opinions, as is often the case. I'm seeing connections take a couple different forms, but mostly embedded steel plate with ...

Thanks for the intriguing example and sketches. One thing that I am wondering about is what the truss diagonals are doing since the roof load comes through the ridge beams at the high point, rather than at the truss chord points. Is the truss part of the lateral system? You mentioned that the connections ...

Thanks, Olaf! This looks really neat. I had some difficulty finding English language info on this, but I gather that they are engaging the perimeter columns as part of the lateral system. Do you know whether they are actually putting shear and moment into the columns, or using them as outriggers with ...

Hi Andres, Very interesting. We actually specified a Simpson Strong-Frame similar to this example for a small retrofit project, and it's true that this is more or less a timber moment frame. One thing I notice looking with fresh eyes is that the moment transfer is achieved by overlapping the members ...

Thanks and good catch.  Pardon the typo on my end. I agree with Terry and Tony that free body diagrams, equilibrium, and basic mechanics are key to understanding structures, and I share your concern that graduates may be missing foundational skills.  Yet, anecdotally I'm not seeing the scale of large ...