Recent content by helfreco

DrZ, that is exactly what I needed, thank you! I was aware of yield line analysis and was really hoping someone had already gone down that road for this situation since I was dreading deriving it myself. And thanks for clarifying the manual edition, I am still using the 14th in my office (this...

Hello, I am dealing with a beam in bending. In addition to the strong axis bending, there is a tension cable anchored to the web of the beam imparting a large concentrated load on the web of the W section. I am concerned about strength/local deformation of the web I have not been able to find...

Both are good suggestions. Thank you for the help. I have already pulled the Thorton article and I am reading it now.

Hello, I am trying to design an end-plate beam splice with the same detail as DG16 Figure 1-3(a). However, the splice also needs to carry a moment in the weak direction of the beam, so I have biaxial bending. I am OK using Part 7 of the SCM manual to calculate bolt loads, so I am not concerned...

HotRod10's suggestion that 'old school' engineers are more comfortable with ASD is correct. If you look back in old threads on this site, I am sure you will find many ASD v LRFD discussions in here. The discussion can be fierce, and sides are picked largely along generation lines. ASD is...

Why are we focusing on park benches here? Are you trying to protect an existing area that already has granite benches around, or is this a new build and there is some architect requirement that calls out 'defensive benches'? If it is the latter, can you install concrete bollards and dress...

fracture point, Agent 666 is correct that this process is usually iterative to find which elements have cracked at the seismic level you are analyzing. As a quick start, I have seen that it is easier to make two models, a horizontal and vertical model. This is important when you are searching...

How detailed are you looking to get? If you only need to do an equivalent static analysis, then almost any program will do, STAAD, RISA, etc. And they have codes built in too. STAAD can handle an RSA analysis, but if you are modeling walls as plates, something a little more advanced might be...

I transitioned from a large company to a small one. I previously had all the software I wanted all the way up to ANSYS (and I used it a lot). My new firm cannot afford software like that. I have an old version of STAAD to do my structural analysis, but I still have to do all my code checks by...

TomekZeWschodu, is the element you are trying to find the natural frequency or submerged in water, or does it constrain water. If it is simply submerged in water, and the water is not sloshing, the natural frequency would be independent of the fluid it resides in. When you do the Structural...

As Agent666 said, you need to check compactness. That check could determine if you should use the plastic (Z) or elastic (S) section modulus. The elastic section modulus is just the moment of inertia divided by the distance from the neutral axis to the most extreme fiber of the section. If...

mobe, when you say 'under load of door' do you mean dead load? For large doors, a bifold should support its dead load from the floor; the track above would be responsible for stabilization and resisting lateral loads like wind. For deflection, L/500 like Chicken suggests is a good rule of...

Hello All, I am designing a braced frame and doing the modeling in STAAD. I am using a single angle for my diagonal bracing, and we draw the brace 1/8" to ensure that it is erected taught. Do I need to consider the draw as a pretension in my model? I am thinking that I do. The member is...

myflayler, I spent some more time on this yesterday and it seems that the plugin I have is trying to create a direct link between AutoCAD and ANSYS while CAD is open, then my CAD model will tranfer while the file is open. I thought having a different file format would get around this, but as...

Yes there is! Draw your pipes using Surfaces. You can do that by either extruding polylines, or by exploding solid elements. Do it however you like. Use command MESHSMOOTH to convert the surfaces to a mesh. Select the mesh and change the smoothness in the quick properties until it is...