ARTICLES - Page 4 of 6 - Sheer Force Engineering

HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR ETABS MODEL IS CORRECT

There’s an old grey-haired engineer in every office who talks about FEA models and “rubbish in equals rubbish out”. Today’s analysis software are very advanced and allow Structural Engineers to design truly complex buildings. This means that the quintessential “black box” of analysis is not only alive and well but potentially getting blacker, and larger every day. So how do you check if your ETABS analysis model is correct or not?

WHY DO BUILDINGS COLLAPSE DUE TO EARTHQUAKES

Structural Engineers design buildings to withstand the forces of mother nature. Often these forces are hard to predict, so engineers develop mathematical models to quantify their behaviour. The response of buildings to these elements is also somewhat hard to predict. It has often been through catastrophic events that Structural Engineers better understand why buildings collapse due to earthquakes…

SHEAR CAP vs DROP PANEL vs COLUMN CAPITAL

Structural Engineers have a number of options up their sleeves to enhance the punching shear capacity of a floor slab. This article will explore three common options, examine each and compare against one another to determine which is best for your project. So lets take a deep dive into a comparison of Shear Cap vs Drop Panel vs Column Capital.

VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF SLABS USING RAM CONCEPT

Vibration analysis falls under the serviceability limit state design criteria. It is often an overlooked criteria which engineers neglect to check. This is especially the case for concrete slabs. However, ignore vibration for a concrete slab at your own peril! Even concrete slabs can perform poorly for vibration. Luckily Bentley’s RAM Concept has a built in vibration analysis module to help. So lets take a deeper look at vibration analysis of floor slabs using RAM Concept.

IS TOP REINFORCEMENT REQUIRED IN ISOLATED FOOTINGS

Recently I posted an article about whether a pile cap is required for a single pile foundation (you can see the article via THIS link). This has prompted me to think about other redundancies I often see in foundations which some engineers are unsure are required or not. Another such example is… is top reinforcement required in isolated footings?

DO YOU NEED A PILE CAP FOR A SINGLE PILE

A pile caps usefulness for a single pile falls under a similar category as your appendix. Experts don’t fully understand what its for and while it may seem to be useful, it is something we can apparently live without… or can we? So do you need a pile cap for a single pile foundation on your project?