Alright bolt experts, help me understand something. I'm a little confused based on the reading I've done to this point on pre-installation verification and its purpose for bolts installed via the turn of the nut method. An AISC Steelwise article from 2015 (The Nuts and Bolts of Nuts and Bolts)...
I have a circular HSS column subjected to cyclical compression stresses that has significant corrosion pitting to the extent that the section needs repair for strength reasons. The pitting is limited to a 4" area along the length of the column but is approximately half the depth of the 7/8" wall...
How does one determine peak ground accelerations recorded from previous earthquakes (e.g. the Ridgecrest quakes from a few weeks ago)? I'd like to be able to compare actual criteria seen to what structures were designed to (or should have been). I wasn't able to find much more than reported...
Is there a reliable and public source that provides current bulk steel pricing estimates/indexes on a per weight basis or equivalent? We have a situation where contractors will be manufacturing large steel structures for the better part of a decade and would like to be able to adjust the cost of...
I'm reposting this to this forum because I imagine there are quite a few people here with structural fabrication and coating experience.
Let's say a paint product data sheet calls for a surface profile of 1-3 mils (range is made up and doesn't actually matter). I know that some power tools...
I know that some power tools can produce a surface profile in steel such as needle gunning, but is a powered wire brush capable of creating a surface profile? My thought is that it would be creating long canyons, but not necessarily sporadic peaks and valleys similar to what you would see with...
Hopefully a quick and easy question. I have a built-up box beam with thin (vertical) webs and thick (horizontal) flanges. Using AISC to analyze the MINOR AXIS moment capacity of the beam, do you flip the local buckling equations for analyzing the different elements? In other words, where AISC...
Could anyone point me to some informative and practical training on paints and other coatings, specifically for steel and aluminum industrial equipment such as cranes and marine structures? Our department has recently been tasked to take a larger role in QA/QC for coatings on projects as well as...
I know brown bags (lunch and learns) can be a sensitive and sometimes hated topic, but I've been tasked with coming up with a topic I can present. The difficulty is arriving at a topic that is interesting to a multi-discipline engineering office. Are there any that you've found interesting...
I am personally not a fan of codes without commentaries, and I'm currently working with two of them (CMAA70 and MH27.1). Both of them feature an equation for the maximum compression stress (from flexure) for a single web monorail crane as Stress Allowed (ksi) = 12000 / ((Lbd)/Af) < 0.6Fy. Lb is...
I have a draawing where the designer has specified 8"-thick A36 plate in their design. The plate will unfortunately be seeing combined tension, bending and torsion. Aside from the reduced yield strength, are there any other concerns I should be aware that may be information known better by...
Hey everyone, I’m looking for recommendations on good FEA books focused toward structural engineering that are of a more practical approach. Ive worked through books by Reddy, Hutton, and Chandrupatla but those take a more theoretical approach of how to derive shape functions and such. Any help...
Is there an industry standard for straightness of a swaged wire rope termination? We have a termination for a crane's whip block that was made with a visible angle, but I was wondering if anyone has run in to this before and if there are established acceptance criteria. Thanks
What are the common methods for repairing corroded steel sections? In this case I am looking at an A36 built up I-beam section where there is an approximately 1/8" loss on the lower part of the web on one side and a 1/8" gross loss with some areas penetrating 3/16" and 1/4" on the upper face of...
In AISC, the equations used for determining beam strength based on LTB are developed from the assumption that the beam is restrained adequately against torsional rotation at the supports (ends for a simply supported case). Suppose a beam is laid across a single span and supported by the ground...
I'm aware of the typical connections used in structural steel framing for shear and moment connections using various "linking" members such as gussets, shear tabs, flange plates, etc., but for non-building structures, is there any issue with foregoing those standard connection methods for...
I am starting to learn FEA and have noticed a trend in many of my analyses where at fixed areas and corners I have high peak stresses on the magnitude of 5 to 20 times the average stress. I decided to test the theory on a fairly simple model to see if it still occurs. I modeled a rectangular bar...
How does one figure out which of the many ASTM shapes (W's, S's, C's, etc.) are regularly available on the market for use? ...especially when the quantities may end up being low, not justifying a special rolling (i.e. between 0-2 tons).
I am trying to understand the difference between lateral and torsional bracing, and why beams framed to the centroid (or near-centroid) of a girder (2L shear connections) may not count for decreasing my Lb. I've read through Yura's article "Fundamentals of Beam Bracing" but it did not provide...
I am struggling to find a resource that defines various types/grades of steel and for what kind of loadings/environments they are appropriate for use. My interests mostly lie with ABS and AISC-specified steels (all steels commonly used in a shipyard). If you know of a good resource (book, paper...
