Essential Reading for Structural Engineers 2

[graduatequestions]

I'm just starting out working life as a structural engineer having recently graduated and was wondering if anyone had had any advice on 'must read books for structural engineers?

I'm particularly interested in any slightly less technical books that will improve my overall understanding & knowledge!

 

[strguy11]

I like the books by Henry Petroski.

To Engineer is Human
Remaking the World
Success through Failure

 

[WpgKarl]

This one is an excellent book, just what you'd be looking for:

Why Buildings Fall Down - Levy & Salvadori - easier to stay stay interested in than Petroski's book and funny as well (see the section on how he handled lawyers as an expert witness)

 

[csd72]

Why buildings Stand Up - also by the same people I think.

 

[Bagman2524]

I'd get as familiar as possible with the AISC steel construction manual & ASCE 7 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings & other structures. I use these much more than anything else.

 

[csd72]

Definately read through the commentaries for all the codes - this will give you a better understanding of the background.

 

[Lion06]

Quite honestly, I would rate this forum as a must read. Be glad you found this early on in your career. I am out of school a little over over a year and a half and am far ahead of my peers in technical competence (many of whom have graduate degrees from some very prestigious engineering schools which will remain nameless).
This forum will expose you to many problems (in a short time) which would take years to come across in practice.
Take some time to think through some of the posts that interest you and it will help tremendously.

 

[JStephen]

Check into "History of the Strength of Materials" sometime, by Timoshenko- I think it's a Dover book.

 

[Bagman2524]

Ditto Structural EIT. There's nothing like having a large pool of engineers to give and get opinions on a wide variety of engineering topics/issues.

 

[gwynn]

I have found that this sort of thing depends a lot on what sort of structural work you are doing. A good place to look for "must reads" is probably on the shelves in the office.

For example, I've yet to bother rereading the building code commentaries since graduating (read it for uni work previously), since I never design buildings.

 

[msquared48]

"GREY'S ANATOMY"

Really - its a study unto the structure of the human body - very complicated, but logical.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[civeng80]

Timoshenko and Young "Theory of Structures" Old but a great book written by world authorities.

Torroja "Philosophy of Structures"

 

[GalileoG]

Anyone know of a great Mechanics of Materials book? (In Metric units) Thanks.

 

[civeng80]

In my opinion Timoshenko "Strength of Materials" is classic.
It may be in imperial units.

Den Hartog "Strength of materials"
unfortunately again imperial units.

 

[civeng80]

Incidently Den Hartog has a method called the Myosotis method of working out deflections in beams which is quite simple brilliant, never seen it done anywhere else. Has anyone else ever seen this method before??

 

[pba]

"The new science of strong materials or why you don't fall through the floor" by J.E. Gordon.

It's an entertaining read covering real basics as well as such things as fracture mechanics. All written for lay people to understand. As a structural engineer you ARE a lay person for much of this but it really helped my basic understanding of the problems.

 

[rb1957]

you beat me to it pba ! i liked the Gordon book too, i remember it as a bit more on the mechanical side (but it's been a lot of years ... must dig around for it !)

 

[graybeach]

Blodgett's "Design of Welded Structures" is a treasure.

 

[graduatequestions]

Thanks guys il look into those!

 

[theonlynamenottaken]

I have a small bookshelf in my office that I keep the "essentials" on... here's the contents:

Blodgett - Design of Welded Structures
Blodgett - Design of Weldments
Blodgett - Tubular Structures
MacGregor - Reinforced Concrete (Mechanics & Design)
The Masonry Society - Masonry Designers Guide
Salmon & Johnson - Steel Structures (Design & Behavior)
AISC Manual (Black)
Newman - Structural Renovation of Buildings
Shanley - Mechanics of Materials
Roark - Formulas for Stress & Strain
Peck, Hanson, Thornburn - Foundation Engineering
Johnson - Deterioration, Maintenance & Repair of Structures
Mikhelson - Structural Engineering Formulas
ACI 318
Budynas - Advanced Strength & Applied Stress Analysis
CRSI Manual
Karnovsky, Lebed - Free Vibration of Beams & Frames
ASCE 7
ACI 530 (Masonry Code)
PCI Design Handbook
NDS suite
Gaylord, Gaylord - Structural Engineering Handbook
Ramsey, Sleeper - Architectural Graphic Standards
Bar Joist & Decking catalog
about five of the AISC Design Guides
& all of my grad school notes bound into books


Books you should read cover-to-cover:

Levi, Salvadori - Why Buildings Fall Down
Merritt - Building Design and Construction Handbook
MacGregor - Reinforced Concrete (Mechanics & Design)
Salmon, Johnson - Steel Structures (Design & Behavior)
Williams - Structural Engineering Reference Manual