Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations waross on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Search results for query: *

  • Users: Tomfh
  • Order by date
  1. Tomfh

    Options for attaching checker floor plate to HSS beams

    You typically need to predrill for that thickness. And sometimes you can do a stepped hole, so that the screw thread is engaging 3 thread or thereabouts, and the rest is larger bore, without engagement.
  2. Tomfh

    How to fix this?

    using my well honed engineering judgement to take strategic risks that solve business problems for my clients. "Take risks" is a fairly loaded phrase (even though every building is a risk, and we are all taking risks every second of every day). "take risks" suggests recklessness. So, it comes...
  3. Tomfh

    New home with wood frame, cracked studs concern

    Too punitive. Double up the crappy ones.
  4. Tomfh

    QA/QC Process Structural Engineering Firm

    We have a QA system however it’s largely divorced from the actual quality control., and is more aimed at satisfying the QA auditor people who have their own strange view of the world. Lots of check box busywork that doesn’t really do much.
  5. Tomfh

    Paths to 100% renewable power, globally

    It’s the same line repeated everywhere: China is investing heavily in renewables and cutting back on coal. Never mind that their coal consumption keeps rising and shows no sign of slowing. Just hold the line and keep chanting the slogan: “China is cutting back on coal.”
  6. Tomfh

    Paths to 100% renewable power, globally

    China isn’t cutting back on coal , they’ve expanded construction plans again. https://discoveryalert.com.au/news/china-building-coal-plants-2025-analysis-implications/#:~:text=China's%20share%20of%20global%20coal,with%20China%20contributing%20~30%25. Their coal consumption continues to grow...
  7. Tomfh

    How to fix this?

    I took it to be an effort to align the point loads with the shelf supports, thereby setting the long-term service load factor to zero and mitigating creep deflection in the particleboard, an approach consistent with best practice in canned goods storage.
  8. Tomfh

    HOT TUB - gut check

    Don’t mix metals.
  9. Tomfh

    MOVEMENT JOINTS IN STORM WATER DRAINS

    How watertight does it actually need to be? Stormwater systems typically aren’t 100% watertight.
  10. Tomfh

    The wheels are falling off the Net Zero Bandwagon 2025 edition

    You’re more generous than I am if you think they’ll learn much from this. They immediately blamed “atmospheric phenomena” and “sabotage”—the same deflections communists used when their control of agriculture led to famine. Do you seriously expect them to admit that forcing too much unstable...
  11. Tomfh

    Do you ever consider a '1 in 1 year return period' wind

    The difference between mandatory and recommended serviceability limits is an interesting one. Australian codes usually offer “suggested” or “recommended” serviceability limits, which everyone tries to meet, and often exceed, because the minimums often aren’t enough to stop your phone from...
  12. Tomfh

    Do you ever consider a '1 in 1 year return period' wind

    Sounds familar lol. There is wisdom in this. For possibly contentious matters, get it in writing whether the client wants the code minimum, or something better.
  13. Tomfh

    The wheels are falling off the Net Zero Bandwagon 2025 edition

    These attribution studies are some of the ugliest examples of cargo cult science we’ve seen in years. It’s rare to see "science" so nakedly engineered around a pre-chosen conclusion. It’s right there in the name: attribution. The whole purpose is to attribute events to climate change, whether...
  14. Tomfh

    Lateral earth pressure on footings and keys of retaining walls

    People commonly do it for theoretical consistency even though it’s probably a load of rubbish in reality.
  15. Tomfh

    The dangers of software and code changes

    That’s how it works in practice when countries go metric. Some things are too hard to start from scratch. And things like plywood, we still have 2440 sheets of ply. The old imperial system is still there in many ways.
  16. Tomfh

    The dangers of software and code changes

    It’s not as difficult as you might think. Where a direct swap is easy, you just use the exact metric equivalent, for example, a 6” slab becomes a 150 mm slab. Using metric materials on old imperial buildings isn’t a big deal either. We retrofit old imperial structures with new metric materials...
  17. Tomfh

    The dangers of software and code changes

    A fair analogy. Closely related species. As opposed to completely different species.

Part and Inventory Search