January 8, 2020

Steel Stud Bearing Walls

By: Connor Bruns, Eric Twomey, Terrence McDonnell, Matthew Johnson

Pre-fabricated, structural cold-formed metal framing (CFMF) bearing walls are a trending construction system and an economical alternative to structural steel or reinforced concrete systems for mid-rise construction. CFMF wall systems are...

Services:Structural Design
Keywords:Preengineered/Prefabricated/Modular
January 2, 2020

Cutting Prestressed Concrete Framing

By: Michael Hughes, Sal Capobianco

This article examines the structural considerations of modifying existing PC floor elements and provides a case study where these methods were used successfully. The focus is on simply supported tee beams with fully bonded strands. It is...

Keywords:Concrete, Concrete-Prestressed
December 2, 2019

Effects of the Improper Modeling of Viscous Damping on the First‐mode and Higher‐mode Dominated Responses of Base‐isolated Buildings

By: Ricardo Medina, Hamidreza Anajafi, Erin Santini‐Bell

In many finite element platforms, a classical global damping matrix based on the elastic stiffness of the system (including isolators) is usually developed as part of the solution to the equations of motion of base‐isolated buildings. The...

Keywords:Finite Element Analysis, Seismic Analyses
November 27, 2019

Seismic Risk Assessments and Due Diligence Studies

By: David McCormick
Recognizing the potential threat of earthquakes, many building owners and property managers seek seismic risk assessments (also called seismic due diligence studies) to understand the condition of structures they currently own or intend to purchase.
Keywords:Codes & Standards, Risk Assessment, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit
November 14, 2019

A Probabilistic Assessment of PWR SNF Cladding Pinching Failure Considering Potential Transportation Accident Conditions

By: Ricardo Medina, Elmar Eidelpes, Luis Ibarra

This study presents a probabilistic assessment of pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rod cladding pinching failure triggered by a transportation accident, after 300 years of dry storage. Three thousand pinching scenarios,...

Markets:Nuclear
October 22, 2019

Identifying Waterfront Design Solutions for Urban Resilience

By: William Bruin
Located in harsh marine environments, coastal and waterfront developments require special attention to improve resilience over the project’s design life. Material selection, siting questions, protective coatings, waterproofing detailing, and drainage are all important considerations for the design team.
Markets:Ports & Terminals
Keywords:Extreme Environments/Structures, Flood, Marine Engineering, Resiliency
October 22, 2019

Excavation Risks Adjacent to Existing Structures in Illinois and Urban Environments – Identifying and Managing Technical and Legal Issues

By: Scott DiFiore, Matthew Johnson, Gregory Meeder, James Chivilo

New construction in metropolitan areas has direct impacts on immediate neighbors and abutters. While noise and dust are generally nuisance concerns, demolition, vibrations, excavation, and dewatering can cause structural damage to...

Keywords:Adjacent Construction, New Construction, Demolition, Dynamic/Vibration, Excavation, Excavation Support, Foundation, Geotechnical, Monitoring, Construction, Shoring/Temporary Structure, Underpinning
October 21, 2019

Building Enclosure Design of Exterior Soffits

By: John Sekel, John Karras

Commercial building designs have long incorporated exterior soffits, better known outside of the building design and construction industry as the underside of any projecting building feature. Aside from soffits at the eave or rake edges of a...

Services:Building Enclosure Design
Keywords:Performance-based, Thermal and Moisture Drive
October 17, 2019

Suggested Improvements on Mandatory Wood “Soft Story” Retrofits

By: Russell McLellan, Keith Palmer, Kenneth Tam, Daniel Zepeda, Michael Mehrain, Garrett Hagen, Jonathan Buckalew, Milad Oliaee

The “soft story” wood frame retrofit ordinances adopted by many California cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco are the largest of their kind. These ordinances mitigate a deficiency known to cause collapse in past...

Keywords:Ordinance, Retrofit/Upgrade, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit
October 17, 2019

SEAOC Resilience Committee Update and Report to the Membership

By: Ronald Mayes, Jonathan Buckalew, Anna Lang, Katie Wade

The engineering community has made great progress on improving building performance. Performance based design is now widely accepted in national standards. New tools (FEMA P58 and SP3) have been developed to evaluate the impacts of earthquakes on...

Keywords:Resiliency

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