Recent content by Randy2002

Hi, I posted a thread in the FEM forum. It has to do with designing a Sole Plate that goes between a bridge steel plate girder and the elastomeric (steel reinforced) bearing pad. Here's a link: thread727-44756 I would appreciate it if anyone would check out the thread and respond there...

I am looking at a steel plate girder bearing on a steel/elastomeric bearing pad. I am looking at the required thickness of a "sole plate" between the girder bottom flange and the bearing pad. The bearing pad and sole plate are an inch wider than the girder flange, which complicates...

Good idea. I submitted it, so we'll see.

I agree, the screen presentation of microstation drawings is pathetic. And the fact that it doesn't refresh is strange too. Ever delete something only to find that there was another copy underneath it when you plot it? Maybe there is a way to make it automatically refresh, I don't know. But...

Thanks to Ivymike for motivating me to try this. I found the documentation poor and the process unintuitive. So I wrote a 12 step process to get the basics down... First, open the "angle.mcd" file, usually in C:\Program Files\MathSoft\Mathcad\samples\CAD\SmrtSkch then fillow the...

Thanks! That was the problem - I didn't notice that &%!!!# driving/driven button! Hehe, gotta love this twisted and convoluted interface. I wrote a 12 step method for getting started with smartsketch for the other guys in my office, so that they can get at least as far in 5 minutes as I got...

Well, I just spent my evening trying to learn how to use this feature. It was almost as fun as biting my tongue off and sewing it back on. I was able to get the smartsketch component to show the value of the variable X in the tools>Variables table, it matched whatever I set it equal to in...

I just thought I'd add one other thing about the term "pile". It is pretty general, there are lots of types of piles. Some are used as structural supports, including precast prestressed concrete piles, steel pipe piles and H piles, etc. Then there are sheet piles made of steel...

I think a caisson is similar to a drilled shaft (what was described above as a drilled pier), but I was under the impression that a caisson has a permanent steel. I'm not sure though. As far as bridges, we refer to a pier as a support that is made of a cap beam supported on columns. The...

misc. structural steel (crossframes and diaphragms) ~ 3 psf * deck area

More on AASHTO Bearing Pad Design... Well, there are some equations in the 15th ed. of the AASHTO standard specs that I think*should* result in the same compressive strain as the charts. Looking in the definitions for section 14 there is: the effective compressive modulus Ec=3*G*(1+2*k*S^2)...

Thanks, I've checked out both of the companies web sites, no luck there. Even got an email from an engineer at D.S. Brown saying that they refer people to the AASHTO charts. What I would really like to do is automate this part of the design. Anyone know of equations for the strain as a...

Hello, The 15th Ed. of the AASHTO Stnd. Road and Bridge Spec., sect. 14.4.1 had stress / strain curves for elastomeric bridge bearing pads as a function of shape factor. I would like to locate an electronic version of these curves. It could be just about any format, vector (CAD), graphic such...

I've worked at a large firm, ENR~50? and a small firm now (2 PEs and an EI) both in bridge design. I'm happy to say that we had very strictly applied checking policies at both companies. We often get into healty technical debates as a result, and everyone comes out ahead.