Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
(OP)
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and direction on where to start with regards to understanding and design of steel plate & shell structures and welded/bolted connections.
I don't want to bore the reader, but here is some backstory...
My original training was as a Draftperson and then Architectural Technology. I had worked in this field for years until the lack of employment in my province (I'm from Canada) encouraged me to move to Alberta in search of more opportunities. It was the right choice as I found a job within days doing drafting and project coordination on residential and commercial projects. The structural steel designs were always most interesting to me.
After getting married I took a drafting position with a tank manufacturer who did mosting API 12F at that time. Although I had no previous experience in the field I soon knew that I had found a career that I could be passionate about. I studied the API 650 specification and over time have gained a good understanding of requirement with the taking some additional courses on tank design and purchasing design software. The software helped me the most by showing the calculations so I could work through them on my own to see where the values were coming from.
I feel that I have an understanding of the principles of loading and the forces which effect design. But I want to go deeper to see the hows and whys of where he formulas and values come from. I purchased two books in this quest, Design of Plate & Shell Structures by Maan H. Jawad and Process Equipment Design by Brownell and Young. These volumes are full of great information for sure, but over my head as far as implementing their principles. I would love to be able to understand this information more thoroughly and implement it in API 650/620 designs with confidence.
I need to start small and work up to the more complex items. To start I would like to go with connections to the shells such as clips for platforms, etc. Formulas and guides are great but you need to know the why and the how.
I work full time and to this point have not found any part time of distance learning courses that would exactly match with my desires.
Any suggestions or direction that the reader may have in regards to the above would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks you in advance.
I'm looking for some advice and direction on where to start with regards to understanding and design of steel plate & shell structures and welded/bolted connections.
I don't want to bore the reader, but here is some backstory...
My original training was as a Draftperson and then Architectural Technology. I had worked in this field for years until the lack of employment in my province (I'm from Canada) encouraged me to move to Alberta in search of more opportunities. It was the right choice as I found a job within days doing drafting and project coordination on residential and commercial projects. The structural steel designs were always most interesting to me.
After getting married I took a drafting position with a tank manufacturer who did mosting API 12F at that time. Although I had no previous experience in the field I soon knew that I had found a career that I could be passionate about. I studied the API 650 specification and over time have gained a good understanding of requirement with the taking some additional courses on tank design and purchasing design software. The software helped me the most by showing the calculations so I could work through them on my own to see where the values were coming from.
I feel that I have an understanding of the principles of loading and the forces which effect design. But I want to go deeper to see the hows and whys of where he formulas and values come from. I purchased two books in this quest, Design of Plate & Shell Structures by Maan H. Jawad and Process Equipment Design by Brownell and Young. These volumes are full of great information for sure, but over my head as far as implementing their principles. I would love to be able to understand this information more thoroughly and implement it in API 650/620 designs with confidence.
I need to start small and work up to the more complex items. To start I would like to go with connections to the shells such as clips for platforms, etc. Formulas and guides are great but you need to know the why and the how.
I work full time and to this point have not found any part time of distance learning courses that would exactly match with my desires.
Any suggestions or direction that the reader may have in regards to the above would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks you in advance.





RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
I you can get a comfortable grip on Statics, then move on to Mechanics of Materials.
RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
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RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
As he observes, unfortunately structural analysis was a mathematician's playground in the 18th century, with the legacy of an over analytical approach to those cases that were solvable, and a disregard for realities like unknown loadscases, variable materials, and what we might politely call assembly techniques. Very often an acceptable analysis can be obtained by common sense and approximation rather than indulging in higher math.
Since statics and dynamics are taught at an appalling level in high school it is a fair bet that a university course will pretty much start at ground zero, therefore their textbooks should be OK.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer
Sure, there was a great deal of math and mathematicians involved in the development of structural analysis from an elasticity point of view (Euler, LaPlace, Kirkoff, etc). But I like to think they did wonders for progressing the field to help us practicing engineers push the envelop more and more.
Q
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RE: Structural Design Training for a Non-Engineer