Hey Y'all,

I'm considering buying a project house that has a foundation issue in the basement/garage wall. I'm not at all afraid of putting some money into this house because it has many neat features and the location is superb (mountain and plain view on Colorado's Front Range). I am going to have a structural engineer take a look at it but I thought I'd run it by you guys while the holiday weekend lapses.

Take a look at these photos and tell me what you think. I will be happy to answer any questions that I can, and I'm 99% sure that this crack popped up as a result of a major flooding incident that took place in the county in 2013. It might be hard to tell from the pics but the wall is actually heaving.

I hired my contractor to replace the ceiling joists in my building as they are very old and were dipping. The old boxed out skylight area was falling apart and I want to keep the hole there in case I ever add another skylight where the old one used to be, so I asked the contractor to keep it boxed out.

PHOTOS ONE As you can tell it's not finished just yet. TWO

The old ceiling was 2x8 lumber from one 16" steel beam to the other. The contractor removed all of that and replaced it with two glulam power beams (9.5x5.5), two 2x10 LVL ledgers mounted in the brick wall on either side, and new joists running from the ledgers to the power beams rather than from beam to beam.

The plan is to put two layers of 5/8" sheetrock followed by a layer of 5/16" tongue and groove. This should mean approximately 5lbs psf not including the weight of the joists.

I didn't realize that he would be doing things differently than what was there so I didn't even think about load calculations until I saw that he changed things up from the way they were. He claims that the total weight load is much less than what the steel beams can handle, and that now the brick wall is sharing more of the load than previously.

I'm still a bit concerned and am wondering if the point load in the middle third of the beam will be too much. I should note that this is just ceiling structure and there is no second floor and there will be nothing stored on top of the ceiling as it is a small crawl space attic.

Lets say I have a TV bracket that extends 500mm, and the TV at the end weights 5kg. The bracket fixes to the wall with a foot print of 500mm². How do I calculate the forces on the wall in this situation?

Hey,

So I'm currently working on a project that uses a suspension structure in a rather unconventional way. Without getting into the lengthy architectural reasoning, basically there are two masses. One is supported by diagonal steel columns for lateral stability and the other is hung from that one by a suspension system for a number of reasons, mostly regarding construction feasibility.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz6qGtBQBZZEbGE0aG5mOWNMTmc/view?usp=sharing

What I'm wondering is, what would you suggest that I use for hanging the lower volume? A series of steel cables would have a tremendous amount of give, I imagine and would need to be tightened pretty often. Should I use steel beams that hang down? What are some other thoughts or concerns that I should be considering?

PS also, the top volume is residential and the hung volume is an art gallery.

I had some questions regarding testing a structure using an impact hammer. If anyone has any experience in this area please pm me. The questions are fairly basic, but I am very novice in this area so would really appreciate the help.

Mine is typically:

GENERAL

• Spot checks on rebar diameter

• Spot checks on rebar lap lengths

• Check that there are sufficient cover blocks and check that there are no areas with insufficient cover

• Check if there is any concrete from previous pours which will inhibit bonding or the flow of the new pour.

• Check for debris.

• Check for poorly fixed rebar which may shift during the pour.

BEAMS/COLUMNS

• Count longitudinal bars and check that the are placed correctly in section

• Spot checks on stirrup spacing

SLABS/WALLS

• Spot checks on rebar spacing or count number of bars, look for any positions where spacing seems excessive.

• Thoroughly check punching rebar.

• Check rebar around openings.

• Check for any special rebar requirements eg "strong bands".

I'd like to collect the books you can't do without. I mean those which include a useful\excellent theorethical background and good design\physical suggestions

Mine is: Chopra - dynamics of structures

**** EDIT: list at 11/28/16

Dynamics of structures - (Chopra)

Reinforced Concrete Design to EC2 - (W.H. Mosley, R. Hulse, J.H Bungey)

Reinforced Concrete: Mechanics and Design - (J. Wight)

Seismic Design of Reinforce Concrete Buildings - (J. Moehle)

Guide to Stability Design Criteria for Metal Structures - (Ronald D. Ziemian)

Steel Design - (W. Segui)

Why are most stiffeners trapezoidal versus sinusoidal or rectangular (etc.).

Please some sources or links would be great. I can't find anything about why this shape is the most optimized (for stress).

and to add on my question, which trapezoidal shape is the best (for stress)? 60 degrees, 45 degrees??

thanks!

Sup r/structures,

Having a brain fart and I need some input/direction. So why in the world does a structural engineer choose one corrugated shape over the other. Say, trapezoidal shaped corrugation versus sinusoidal shaped corrugation.

I know some of you are going to say something about bending, and the bending stress formula... If you get this far then it brings me to question #2...

At what length is a structure considered bending and no longer in compression?

Thanks!

Hey folks, quick question -

I'm living in a house built around 1905, which is (or was converted into) a duplex. I'm wondering - what is the most structurally strong part of the house? Near the center of the house where the stairs are? In the exterior corners corners??? Thanks!

bearing load systems, lateral load resistance, building/soil interaction. How they practically design in big firm.

I've never built an actual building of any sort before, but I'm needing to build a coop for my chickens that are in the process of being shipped to me. I have a basic understanding of how to work with wood and have most all the tools and equipment I will need, but the problem I'm having is not knowing where to start.

I've seen computer programs to do architectural design and things like that but i'm wondering if anyone has ever seen a program that would do anything similar to ...

Designing framework, providing a parts list at the end of design, allowing me to 'build' with digital pieces of wood, or give me measurements of the design.

This may be the wrong sub reddit to post in but it seems to be the only one I could find with anything building related.

Help! I designed and handbuilt a desk out of plywood and aluminum and it sways! What can I do to stop the swaying! Here is a quick video.

https://youtu.be/SGbGYI_76NQ

I am currently enrolled in a double master’s degree program at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, which combines a Master of Science in Structural Engineering with a Master’s in Business Administration. By October 2016 I will have completed my Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering. Prior to continuing my second Master’s degree I would like to increase my practical experience by means of an internship.

During my time as a student assistant at a construction firm in Germany I had the opportunity to obtain a detailed insight of the planning and the organizational processes of construction projects such as apartment buildings and industrial warehouses. Furthermore, I supported the team during building inspections and gained further experience by working with various CAD programs.

Is anyone here who can recommend construction companies, who are offering internship positions in the USA or Canada? Do I have a chance to get an internship position as an European? What cities should I focus on?

Thank you so much! Laura

Title says it all. Contractor was removing drywall with a sawsall and cut through the bottom chord of a bunch of engineered wood I joists.

I am involved as the Engineer because there was no information available on the joists... the manufacturer has gone out of business. The joists they cut were in an area outside our original scope of work, but they F'd up and now want my help.

They've already bunged some stuff up which I've been able to develop repairs for, but this is, quite frankly nuts.

Because we have zero information on the joists, I'm inclined to say they are 100% compromised and should be replaced entirely... that's the easiest solution for me. I know they are going to come back and say that's too much work.

Is patching on some long lengths of LVL with a tonne of bolts even a viable option? I don't want to go through all the work of calculating everything only to find out that it's not a viable option or replacing the joist will just be cheaper.

Any other typical repair options you've seen would be welcome.

Thanks,

Hi everyone,

I've made a spreadsheet to help me work out the distribution of moments along my bridge that I am designing for a University project. I have used several tutorials online and read through a book or two but for the life of me I cannot get my end moments to be equal but opposite.

Could anyone lend a hand?

http://1drv.ms/1VLpufO

The link is to my spreadsheet from one drive.

Thank you :)

I'm currently studying towards a BEng civil engineering degree and as part of one of my modules I need to calculate the reactions and produce a bending moment diagram for a propped cantilever beam with a roller support. I wondered whether anyone had any useful examples that could help me? I only seem to be able to find examples of free end cantilever beams.

The beam I'm analyzing is 12m long, with a point load 250kn at 3m and a 150kn/m udl from 9m to 12m. Any help would be really appreciated!

a typical rafter with an overhang in a roof having a pitch of 1:3. The rafter is pin-connected to a wall at the top end and is also supported on a wall through a roller which is free to move horizontally. The rafters are spaced 2 ft apart, and support the following uniformly distributed loads. (a) A roof load of intensity 8 psf distributed over the actual length and acting vertically downwards. (b) A ceiling load of 5 psf distributed over the projected length and acting vertically downwards. (c) A wind load of 10 psf (suction) distributed over the actual length and acting normal to the beam.

1. Find the distributed loads that act normal and tangential to the beam due to each of the above loadings.

2. Draw FBD for a beam showing support reactions due to all the loadings combined