Textbook recommendations 3

[verycuriousengineer]

I hope everyone is doing well.

Besides reading building codes, I would like to make a list of recommended textbooks for a structural engineer to have and I would greatly appreciate your shared experience on such topic. I am interested in textbooks that explain structural design (concrete structures, steel structures...).
I am also very curious to know if anyone has a recommendation about a textbook that explains the right way to model structures in softwares like Etabs or Staad Pro or Robot Structural Analysis with a step by step procedure to execute seismic designs. I have watched many tutorials on youtube and I can't help but notice how each video presents a different methodology than the other. I have checked some textbooks but what they show is mostly theoretical.

Looking forward to reading your comments.

 

[milkshakelake]

Concrete: Wight MacGregor Reinforced Concrete Mechanics Design
Steel: AISC Design Examples, AISC Design Guide -> Better than any textbook!
Wood: Design of Wood Structures by Donald Breyer

ETABS: I haven't found any guide that goes over it. I think you just have to talk to different engineers and see how they do things. And test the methods by hand. For example, for flat slab design, you can test it using Direct Design method. Some things like concrete long term deflection - there is basically no way to figure this out on your own unless you're a genius. The formula in textbooks is so simple, but modeling it is so, so hard. You just have to ask the right people.

Edit: Also suggest searching for the same question about textbooks. Not being a dick, but it's the most commonly asked question and there are great answers from others.

 

[verycuriousengineer]

Thank you for your reply.

 

[JohnRwals]

Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Buildings By Jack Moehle
...excellent, advanced level textbook!

 

[verycuriousengineer]

Thank you for your reply.

 

[KootK]

I am also very curious to know if anyone has a recommendation about a textbook that explains the right way to model structures in softwares like Etabs or Staad Pro or Robot Structural Analysis with a step by step procedure to execute seismic designs.

Effective modelling is of topic of particular interest to me and I've made a point of collecting references that deal specifically with that. The first two shown below are the output of CSI & Bentley respectively and are marvelous places to start. That said, I don't know that they necessarily provide step by step guidance on software manipulation. And frankly, I wouldn't recommend that even if it were available. In my opinion, what you want is general, good practice strategies that are largely independent of the particular software that you choose to employ. The step by step stuff is the domain of the online help systems.

 

[verycuriousengineer]

KootK, thank you so much! It seems like a great list.

 

[lexpatrie]

On a related note, when did "backstay" become a recognized phenomenon?

I haven't done an exhaustive literature search, but the one (and only) I've found so far is 2012....

https://www.structuremag.org/wp-content/uploads/C-StructPractices-Tocci-June121.pdf

 

[slickdeals]

There's mention of backstay effect in NERHP Tech Briefs on Diaphragms, and also in the LATBSDC document. It is a real phenomenon that needs to be considered.

 

[KootK]

On a related note, when did "backstay" become a recognized phenomenon?

I feel as though it started to gain traction in the 2000 - 2005 range. It's a case of it being something we didn't care about much when we didn't have the tools (FEM) to evaluate it expediently. Then, when FEM became ubiquitous, we decided to start caring a bunch. Prior to FEM, it was common to use very simplified models such as that shown below. Because such models resisted OT via base moment rather that diaphragm force couples, it made less sense to speak of a backstay effect which is in essence, a version of a propped cantilever.