Structural Engineering term translation Aust/UK/US

[csd72]

I am looking to do a white paper on term translations between Australia, the UK and the US and could definately do with some help coming up with terms and coming up with translations.

For Example

Australia: Cleat SHS/RHS
UK: Fin plate SHS/RHS
US: single plate shear connection HSS(Tube)

 

[valleyboy]

Dont the yanks call sheeting rails 'girts' ?
(Not sure what our antipodean friends call them though - over to you csd72 !)

 

[csd72]

girts also, but good one to add.

I will post a word file when I have accumulated a few.

 

[apsix]

Aust / UK / US
wall cladding / wall cladding / siding
truss / lattice girder / truss
ferrule / insert / ? (as in cast-in female threaded item)

 

[msquared48]

Another US term for a single plate shear connection is a "Knife Plate" - used in wood construction a lot as well as connections to HSS column sections.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[msquared48]

Another is the term "rat runs" used to laterally support roof truss panel points, and serve as rat, mouse, weasel and raccoon highways. No extra live load included for that scenario.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[hokie66]

OZ, elastic section modulus Z, plastic section modulus S
US reversed
Uk don't know

 

[JAE]

What about the term "collector" used here in the US for a horizontal beam member that transfers long diaphragm forces to a specific brace location.

 

[Taro]

Just within the U.S., there are dozens (if not hundreds) of construction terms that vary across regions. Especially in the more "folksy" areas. I would think that compiling a comprehensive list comparing terms between multiple countries would be a monumental task.

 

[msquared48]

JAE:

"Drag Strut" is also used for the "collectors" here too.

Kinda Kinky, Huh?

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[JAE]

Mike....tut tut.

 

[hokie66]

JAE and Mike,

In Australia, I haven't heard the terms "collector" or "drag strut" (except when reading this site). I think we would just call it a chord. But we don't use diaphragms as much as you do, because our roofs are not built the same way. Instead of steel deck with built up roofing, we mostly use cross bracing. The steel roof sheeting is the waterproofing, not a structural diaphragm. In houses, the only two common roofing materials are steel and tiles (mostly concrete, some clay). So no solid sheathing on the roof for asphalt shingles.

 

[msquared48]

Interesting:

Here, for the diaphragm edge members in tension, we call them "Chord Ties" (resist the diaphragm chord force) - as tension ties at the roof diaphragm level in tilt-up concrete structures. These ties would run at the diaphragm level in the wall normal to the force seen by the diaphragm. (T = wl^2/8b) where "b" is your diaphragm depth parallel to the force, "l" is the width of the diaphragm, and 'w" the applied uniform load.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[msquared48]

"Transfer Beam" for a beam that "transfers" the load from a column above to two other columns below.

"Pony Wall" for a wood stud wall constructed above a concrete stem wall, where the wood floor structure rests on te top of the pony wall, and not the concrete stem wall.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[hokie66]

Transfer beam means the same in Australia, but "pony wall" and "stem wall" are terms not heard often, if at all.

 

[msquared48]

Betcha you've never heard of a "Stud Finder" either...

Hint: It's not a croc!

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[hokie66]

Yep, we have stud finders. I trust you mean the battery operated tool to locate studs behind the sheeting.

 

[msquared48]

Yep, but the simple ones just use magnets.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[hokie66]

"Foundation" is apparently used in the US for walls below ground level. In Australia, the foundation is the soil or rock which supports the structure.

 

[msquared48]

Not just the walls, but all the footings (strip, spread, matt), piling, pile caps, grade beams - anything below grade that would render support to the structure. The whole structural system is considered the "foundation" of the structure.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering