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Volume II: Strength of Materials
Volume II of this series, currently in preparation,
is an introduction to the design of structures in bending. It builds
upon the lessons learned about axially-loaded structures in the first
volume, and continues the theme of introducing students to the entire
creative continuum of the structural design process.
 The
profile of this highrise building, which was designed as a theoretical exercise by Waclaw
Zalewski, follows the shape of a high-efficiency Michell structure. Because of this shape,
less wind bracing steel would be required per unit floor area than in a more conventional
highrise configuration. |
The first chapter is
a dialog between a structural engineer and an architect. WE look
over their shoulders as they work side-by-side to design a small
building for a national park entrance. Their words and sketches
bring out a host of issues about design process, choosing and laying
out a structural system, and the role of structure in the space
and form of buildings.
Succeeding chapters, which include a full repertoire of structural
mathematics, explore flow patterns of forces in structural bodies;
material properties; bending behavior; beam design; column design;
grids, plates, and slabs; and designing whole framing systems for buildings. At appropriate points, we encounter the engineer/architect
team again as they design other buildings.
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| This truss illustrates
in a simplified manner the flow of forces inside a simply supported
beam that is subjected to a uniform loading.
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The guiding principle
for this second volume, as for the first, is the finding of good
form for structures, in this case structures made up of beams, grids,
plates, slabs, columns, and frames. The ability to diagram the flow
of forces in any structural body is taught step by step. Simplified
truss models permit the use of graphical techniques from Volume
I, Statics, to find forces and stresses in various regions of flow
patterns.
 An illustration of a one-way concrete joist
floor system. The second volume will contain advice on selecting, laying out, and
proportioning framing systems in every material. |
Condensed "Design
Guides" in the back of the book offer comprehensive information
and preliminary member sizing rules for the common structural systems
in wood, steel, masonry, and concrete. When coupled with the information
and techniques developed in the body of the book, these guides enable
a student to function confidently as the designer of structural
systems for framed buildings. |