Structural Engineering Library suggestions

[HuckleberryFinn]

All,

I'm in the process of comparing some books from my own personal library to that of my colleagues in the workplace and quite frankly, I'm finding several of my books somewhat lacking.

I was hoping you could recommend/comment on book suggestions listed below?

Steel Design - I have the 4th Edition of McCormacs book, not a bad introductory text but I'm looking to get into a little bit more meat. I heard Salmon and Johnson is good?

Masonry - Multiple people have recommended the Reinforced Masonry Engineering handbook (I currently do not own a masonry book, only the code).

Reinforced concrete - I have a packet of notes put together from my college instructor that is actually quite good. It leaves out a fair amount as I received it in an undergraduate course although I've been told to look into Nawy's book for more in-depth material?

Wood - I have Breyers book and it has served me well.

Mechanics - I have Hibbelers book and Boresi and Schmidts advanced text.

Analysis - I have Leet and Uang's book

Foundations - I could really use a good text in this area, I haven't had a chance to do much foundation design in my career up to this point and what I have done has been fairly simple spread foundations and wall foundations.

Anything other suggestions for books you found particularly useful would be appreciated as well!

 

[frv]

Salmon & Johnsosn is considered one of the best around, along with Blodgett's book (although as far as I know, there hasn't been a new edition in many years).

I think with concrete, you'll likely get a wider range of opinions as far as what is the best. I used McCormac and have no complaints.

Breyer is the way to go with wood, so you're set there.

Masonry- I'd like some opinions on this as well.

Mechanics- I used Gere and it is very good at explaining fundamentals.

Analysis- I like Hibbeler. Like Gere, very good with fundamentals.

 

[TERIO]

I'm an ME about to end up doing some analysis and qualification of reinforced concrete structures (I'll have several good structural mentors), so I'll be particularly interested in the recommendations on reinforced concrete.

I've used Salmon & Johnson and found it to be good.

Mechanics - I like J.P. Den Hartog's "Advanced Strength of Materials". The price is right (Dover paperback). The content (as it claims) is somewhere between a standard strength of materials book and the Timoshenko books (theory of elasticity, plates and shells, & elastic stability).

 

[msquared48]

For Masonry Jim Amrhein's book "Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook" is the only way to go, if you can find one.

Just saw one used in a local book store last week, so they are out there.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[bridgebuster]

Here are my suggestions:

“How To Say It” by Maggio, “…my own personal…” would not have gone over well with several of my high school English teachers.

On the technical side, I find books on applied theory to be more practical.

“Engineering for Steel Construction” by AISC
“PCA Notes for ACI-318”
“Design of Welded Structures” by Blodgett

You can find many good books free in PDF version from FHWA on a variety of topics, primarily geotechnical & foundations. The same goes for the Navy & Army Corps of Engineers.

That’s my own personal opinion.

 

[weab]

For foundations, I like Joseph Bowles. I think the name is "Foundation Analysis and Design"

 

[a2mfk]

Why not just borrow coworker's books as needed? THis is what I used to do, then once I went solo I bought my favorites.

I recently posted the same question about steel design- the resounding response was S and J. A previous employer had that older version and it was very thorough.

Echo Armheim. Breyers is the only wood text I have ever needed, kept it since I graduated in 98. That and the wood manuals have gotten very thorough.

Even if you only do light reinforced concrete, you may find the CRSI manual very valuable, its loaded full of tables and examples and quickly can pay for itself.

 

[msquared48]

For wood, the AITC manual, NDS, Western Woods Use Book, Douglas-Fir Use Manual, etc. All are good, but the NDS is the bible here.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[JedClampett]

I still like Peck, Hanson and Thornburn, "Foundation Engineering" even though its been out of print forever.

 

[BAretired]

Any of the books co-authored by Stephen Timoshenko would be a valuable asset in your library. I have had several of these for many years and I refer to them frequently.

BA

 

[flight7]

For foundations I like Das. He also has a good book on geotechnical engineering/soil mechanics.

 

[SLTA]

Someone should put all the suggestions that have been made over the years into a FAQ. (Sorry, I'm not volunteering.)

 

[Lion06]

Here's what I have on my desk
Foundations - Bowles and Das
Steel - S & J, Blodgett, Geschwindner's Unified Design
Concrete - MacGregor, and PCA Notes on ACI 318
Wood - Breyer
Masonry - NONE. I've never found a good text, just some good examples.
Analysis - Hibbeler
Mechanics - Hibbeler, and Timoshenko
Miscellaneous - Roark, Timoshenko (plates and shells, and theory of elastic stability)

I think that covers everything on my shelf. Well, of course all of the material standards are there - ACI 318, AISC 360-05, NDS, ACI 530 - and codes - ASCE 7, and IBC.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Here are the books that I consider essential to my work (other than the code references themselves):

1) Salmon and Johnson's steel book. My is a bit out dated. But, it is still an awesome reference for advanced steel behavior. When you want to understand how steel actually behaves and why the code is written the way it is, then S&J is the book.

2) AISC Design Guides. These are usually very good and very practical. They've got one that goes into great detail about one particular subject (torsion, bolted end plates, welded connections, bolted connections, Floor Vibrations, Column stiffening for moment connections).

3) Analysis: I've purchased a number of analysis books over the years, but most of them are a bit too "academic" for me. I don't need to know too much about higher order shear deformable plate theory. The book I love, which covers some advanced topics in a very accessible way, is "Matrix Structural Analysi" by McGuire, Gallagher and Ziemian.

4) Wood = Breyer. It's practically the bible of wood design.

5) Masonry = "Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures" by Taly. I don't like the format of the book all that much as it can be hard to find what you need. But, it is a good book. I really like RMEH... it's just a little too dated now.

6) Foundations. The Das books are excellent. The Bowles book is too. I also like a lesser known book on retaining walls by Hugh Brooks. I think it is given away when you buy the RetainPro program. But, it is by far the most practical and complete treatment of retaining walls tht I've seen. And, it's written by an SE rather than a PhD.... that's always a + in my view.

5) Seismic: I really like the Seismic Design Handbook edited by Farzad Naeim (sp?). It covers a wide variety of topics, but is very well written an relatively easy to follow. The only drawback is that it is a bit dated now.

6) I don't think there are any really great books on concrete. Though the PCA Notes is probably a good reverence to have.

7) Dynamics: I like Mario Paz's book. But, for Response spectra analysis the Gupta book "Response Spectrum Method" is probably the best.

8) Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain ends up being pretty useful every now and then.

 

[a2mfk]

Dang PA, that is some desk... No picture of the better half somewhere?

 

[ToadJones]

I never cared for Hibbeler's Books.

Timeshenko & Gere's Mechanics books are great.

Blodgett's "Design of Welded Structures might be the best book ever printed in the history of mankind in terms of bang-for-the-buck.
I believe this book only costs $22.

 

[ToadJones]

https://ssl.lincolnelectric.com/lincoln/apdirect/item.asp?prodnum=DWS

It covers far, far more than welding....

 

[Lion06]

a2mfk-
No better half anymore. Just the kids. I have several notebooks from school that I keep, too - Advanced Mechanics, Advanced Analysis I & II, Prestressed Concrete, and Advanced Concrete. A Dietrich Metal Stud Binder, PCI Design Handbook, I'm sure there are some others, but right now they're split between home and the office.

 

[Lion06]

Toad-
When did Lincoln Electric start offering that book again? It was unavailable through them when I got it around 4 years ago. I paid like $60 on Half.com.

 

[RFreund]

For masonry I would think the "Masonry Designers Guide" by the Masonry Society is a good reference with lots of examples.

Other interesting books:

Guide to Stability Design Criteria for Metal Structures, 5th Edition
Galambos

Cold-Formed Steel Design
Wei-Wen Yu

EIT