Over the past many months I have been learning how to use Grasshopper. If you are not familiar with this, it is a graphical programming tool. You can link this with Revit, Tekla and several other software packages. Most modeling software in the AEC world extrude defined shapes along lines...
I am tired of the time to enter the plot names for each .pdf file. Using PDFCreator I can dump a plot to a specified folder in seconds, but they are not named. So long as you print them in the order you want, you can bind them into a package easily when you are done. I see there is an option...
I have been working on a project to create more of my calculation sheets using Jupyter Lab or Notebooks. I did not like the look of the output, so I went searching for options to improve the quality of the calculation sheets. This turned out to be a bit of a headache given how little I...
I have been working on my python skills and have plans to make some tools for clients to use. I started with a simple truss problem from Engineering Skills (snip of below). I want to automate some design tasks, and now I am certain I can. The tools I want to create for our clients will speed...
Is everyone else finding it is common now that trades do not review much or ask questions until they show up on site to start? I had one today that has had drawings since 2022, starts, and now has questions they think we should answer immediately. Egad, what's the deal?
Dr. Sean Carrol has changed his site from DegreeTutors to Engineering Skills. He has prepared a couple of nice tutorials for OpenSeesPy. I found them interesting, so I thought I would share with others.
Truss Tutorial
Frame Analysis using OpenSeesPy and OpenVis
I have a small two storey bldg I am working on. The roof diaphragm is a flexible steel deck over OWSJ as you can see in the image below. My question relates to the one drag strut. I have seen a channel section used commonly for this purpose. The flanges are cut out at the OWSJ and it is...
I am finishing a single story precast project at a site where the geotech has indicated the spread footings must be tied in two directions per the clause below. I do not agree with that assertion based on the site parameters, but I have given up debating with the Geotech. In the past we have...
I have a project we designed and detailed in wood, but now they need non-combustible construction. Long boring story. The roof trusses span 30'-0". We can get open web steel joists and deck, but the point loads resulting from the joists being 5'-0" o/c will be problematic, and the connection...
I was asked to offer an opinion on the suitability of the detail below. They are planning to build a tunnel adjacent to the existing building. The tunnel will have a slab over it that supports 900mm of soil. I was only asked to comment on the continuous slab ledge. I would prefer to see a...
I have a project that came back on to my desk, and I have many reservations about what is proposed. I have included a plan view and elevation below. This is to be a climbing wall. It first started with the owners cardboard plan, and after I insisted, they found an EOR that is supposed to have...
I am working on a building project where there are some piles that cannot be installed directly under the building columns. I am looking at a cantilever pile cap solution as sketched below. I have sketched the STM model over one of the stress diagrams. Is this STM model reasonable or could it...
I have been asked by a client to design a truck/car wash using wood trusses over the bays. I am not a fan of this at all, and I sketched out a precast alternate. The precast roof leads to more steps to create the roof finish they desire, and they are adamant about using wood trusses. The...
I am designing a connection for a precast concrete project. This is a delegated design project, and the feedback from the EOR is not stellar. In many cases we are doing projects that are designed as tilt-up, but for any number of reasons the GC decides to precast the project. Due to that...
I am taking a course online and have been watching the professor produce very nice notes with a digital pen. This got me to thinking about creating all of my calc's digitally. Given the current pen technology this seems possible. I did find one young engineer in the UK that seems to be doing...
We are asked from time to time to design slender concrete column elements that are beyond the moment magnification method. We have been testing some random designs using non-linear finite element analysis and correlated one model to an actual test we found. Our prediction was very close to the...
I am in the midst of designing shear connections (below) for a precast concrete project that will rely upon dowel action. The example below is the lightest load. I am interested to hear other engineers approach in a case like this. I know there are many details others will prefer, but this is...
I need to setup an improved field review process from site. The current process being used with one client is not functioning adequately and I need to improve it. This tool needs to be simple to use to track photos, and create reports that can be uploaded to a site so I can access remotely...
I finally have time to create a useful Embed calculation sheet. I have variables xi and yi that include the spaces between individual studs(see below). I will add/delete matrix values based on the actual embed plate design.
The question I have relates to getting the value nx below. Is...
Being in a remote location most of the CPD hours I do are online. I have completed a number thru ASCE, ACI, and PCI, but I would like to find some Canadian options that are more relevant to our code. Anybody have some suggestions? Traveling to Vancouver is wonderful, but $3k+ per is not...
