Structural Library 5

[DJYork]

I am a relatively new EIT, and I am expanding (starting) my structural library. I have the basic codes and some textbooks, but would appreciate any suggestions of references, books, or authors that would be a good addition to my library. Thanks in advance.

 

[JStephen]

Generally what kind of work are you doing? Bridges? Buildings? Tanks? Skyscrapers? Outhouses? Steel? Aluminum?

 

[DJYork]

Generally design 1-3 story commercial buildings w/ all types of construction: (wood, steel, masonry), some earth structures, no bridges (but do have an interest). I let you know if I design an outhouse or a skyscraper, but probably in the distant future.

 

[UcfSE]

Here's a few from my library:

ACI 318, ACI 530, ASCE7, AISC ASD and LRFD, NDS 2001, joist and deck catalogs, and whatever other codes are relavent for your area.

Masonry:
Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook - Amrhein
Masonry Desginer's Guide 4 - TMS

Concrete:
Design of concrete Structures - Nilson, Darwin, Dolan
Reinforced Concrete - Nawy

Wood:
Design of Wood Structures - Breyer

Steel:
AISC HSS Conncetions Manual
ASD Volume 2 Connections
Steel Structures, 2E and 4E - Salmon and Johnson

Foundation Engineering - Das
Foundation Engineering - Coduto
Finite Elements - Cook, Malkus, Plesha, Witt
Adv. Mechanics of MAterials - Boresi, Schmidt
Dynamics of Structures - Chopra
Blodgett is a good author for steel

Contact hardware manufacturers such as Hilti, Ramset and Powers and ask for their product catalogs and product technical data.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

Here is a "grab bag" of free downloads. Many of these are as good as purchased books. Look around the various industry association sites - there are many other free resources out in cyberspace.

Residential Structural Design Guide – 2000 Edition

http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=1442

Wood Frame Construction Manual

http://www.awc.org/pdf/wfcm2001workbookandappendix.pdf

Fair Housing Act Design Manual

http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/fairhousing.html

Housing & Urban Development Rehabilitation Guide

http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=997

Concrete Masonry Homes: Recommended Practices

http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=976

Wood As An Engineering Material

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm

Concrete Forming: Design & Construction Guide

http://www.plumcreek.com/products/plywood/pdfs/V345.pdf

US Army Corps of Engineers: Design of Pile Foundations

http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em1110-2-2906/basdoc.pdf

US Army Corps of Engineers: Design of Sheet Pile Walls

http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em1110-2-2504/toc.htm

California Falsework Manual

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/construction/Manuals/Falsework/Falsework.htm

Steel Joist Institute Handbook

http://www.steeljoist.org/sjiform/

L. B. Foster Catalog (on CD): Includes substantial info on steel sheet piling.
Request free CD:

http://www.lbfoster.com/piling/technical.html

Guide to Design Criteria for Bolted and Riveted Joints, 2nd Edition

http://www.boltcouncil.org/guide1.htm

Hybrid Wood and Steel Details--Builder's Guide

http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=10230

Designing With Steel Form Deck

http://www.sdi.org/whites/FORM.pdf

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

 

[Rich2001]

Soem more freee bokks are the DOE handbooks on many topics

http://www.eh.doe.gov/techstds/standard/standard.html

 

[pba]

Now you are working, you will find out over time the books that suit you and that you will use frequently.

I work in the UK so my library would be somewhat alien to you. I'll pick out some themes:

I have two good geotechnical books. One provides the formulae etc. The other is a simple undergraduate text and I find it enormously useful for looking up basic stuff that I should be able to remember (but can't).

I've got two books on design of steel structures. I mostly design steel structures but I very rarely look at the books. Almost all of what I need to know is covered by the design codes and the section tables.

I have as many books, pamphlets etc. on Health and Safety as I can find room for. The UK legislation imposes criminal responsibility on me as a designer and I like to take this seriously.

The rest of my Library is composed of manufacturer literature and pamphlets which I keep because they 'might come in useful'. Mostly I don't get to use them. The manufacturer literature is mostly out of date but gives me a contact name when I need to order new information for an actual job. By the way - It is a good idea to file manufacturer literature with the job files so it is available from archive if you need it in the future! The manufacturers give this stuff away so always get two copies

I love computers and the internet but they have yet to properly replace a nice shiny catalogue!

There you are - Very few books. This is true for most engineers, even if we have the boks we don't use them.

 

[pba]

One book which I would recommend to all engineers is 'The new science of strong materials - or Why we don't fall through the floor' by J.E. Gordon. J.E. Gordon was/is a materials scientist. He explains what I do for a living in a way I never could. I also learnt a lot of things I hadn't understood as an undergraduate. It's Possibly one to read at home rather than the office.

 

[BFPartners]

You will probably start with numerous textbooks but as you progress through your EIT, you will find "gems" that have useful design data that can't be found elsewhere... start a collection of papers and misc design details.

What I suggest as a Structural Engineer is to start by having the up-to-date version of wood, steel, and concrete codes. Find a senior engineer who is performing more mangement and get ahold of his old steel and concrete code books from the 1960's. Remember, the majority of engineering work is in refurbishment and remodeling (ie platform adding, addition of a 2nd floor to a building, plant expansions...) the old textbooks have shapes and information that is not available in modern textbooks. The US Army Corps is a gem of information.

Last bit of info, you will lean more in the first 4-5 years in consulting practice than any "university" can teach.

 

[UcfSE]

Remember that what you learn is entirely up to you. I have indeed learned more in my first 3 years than the university taught me but only because I took the initiative to do it. I work with someone for instance who has 11+ years experience and in all that time hasn't learned anything. He knows what a student knows as far as technical ability. It's very annoying for me as the youngest to be able to "out engineer" the senior staff where I am lol. Anyway, learning is up to you. It won't just soak in. Also, look on ebay and at used book stores for older texts as well. Sometimes you will find some very interesting pieces.

 

[DJYork]

Thanks everyone for the help. I appreciate the information, and have utilized many of your suggestions.

 

[HgTX]

1. ASTM Standards vol. 1.04 (that has most of the standards related to structural steel)

If you join ASTM they'll send you a free volume every year. Get this one.

It always amazes me how little designers seem to know about the actual requirements of the steel they design with.

2. AWS D1.1, Structural Welding Code--Steel
Unfortunately they won't send you a free one every year if you join AWS, and they do publish a new one every 2 years. But you could write to them and suggest a subscription service.

3. RCSC Spec and design guide for bolted connections
both available for download from

http://boltcouncil.org

4. AISC is about to come out with a new steel book, grand unified ASD/LRFD. But if you have the old green book, hang on to it. Some tables in there that went away later on I'm told, and some of the old formulas will be good for quick-n-dirty sanity check.

Hg

 

[wyanko]

I think your best addition to your library (with the exception of codes and a few academic books) are manufacturer catalogs:

HILTI catalog
A precast catalog
A masonry producer catalog
Vulcraft catalog
Steel joist catalog
Metal decking catalog

If you are a concrete person, consider the CRSI handbook.