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Structural Basics

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Timber Joist Floor - Ep. #14 Timber Design Series

Hi friends, There are a bunch of different timber floor types that we can choose from. timber joist floor CLT floors prefabricated timber floors (differs from manufacturer to manufacturer) timber composite floors I have personally worked with all 4 types already. Timber structures are quite common in Germany and more and more trendy as sustainability becomes more important. We'll cover some of these floor systems in the next couple of weeks. Today, we'll start with the timber joist floor, and...

Hi friends, One disadvantage of timber floors is its vibration behavior because of its little weight. Vibration is a phenomenon in structural engineering that needs to be investigated for light-weight structures like timber floors or steel staircases. Because if the frequencies are too little, people might feel unwell. In many cases, that's the vibration analysis is the most critical verification of timber floors. In this newsletter, I'll show you how to verify timber joist floors for...

Hi friends, Today we'll design a timber column. The 4 Steps To Verify Timber Columns According To Eurocode Let's use the center column of the canopy structure that we also used in the last episodes as an example to show the calculation steps. Step #1: Define the material properties of the timber element We first define the material properties of the timber column. In this tutorial, we'll use C24 as the timber material. For small structures like this which aren't exposed to big loads, C24 is...

Hi friends, In the last weeks, we learned all the basics of timber design. Today we'll design the first timber element: a timber beam. Also, I wanted to thank you guys for your support with Module #2. I hope it'll help you in your engineerng journey and if you have any suggestions of making it better, please reach out! After having received so much good feedback already about Module #1 and #2, I have already started with Module #3: Structural Design of Reinforced Slabs and Walls of a...

Hi friends, Just a quick reminder: It's 1 week out until the launch of Module #2: Structural Design of a Residential Timber Roof. I will send you an email with more information about the e-book on Saturday. I already said it in last weeks e-mail, but here it is again: I am super excited to share this e-book with you. I am smiling while I am writing this. Currently, I am working on the last few things that need to be done for the launch: Product page, description writing, pictures, launch...

Hi structural engineering friend, Today we’ll look at how to verify torsion of timber beams. But first a little update on Module #2 - Structural Design of a Residential Timber Roof. I am delighted to announce that I finished it and we will launch it on Wednesday October 1st. I am so excited to share it with you guys as it's the first structural design book that I publish and the feedback I received from you about module #1 has been amazing. Module #1 helped many of you understand loads...

Hi friends, Today we’ll look at the deflection verification of timber elements. One of the difference between steel concrete and timber design is that in timber design SLS verifications like the deflection verification are much more of the most critical. Especially for spans > 5m. So today, I'll show you how to verify timber beams for their deflection. Now, let’s get into it... The 4 Steps To Verify Timber For Deflection Let's use the secondary beam of the canopy structure that we also used...

Hi friends, Today we’ll look at the shear verification of timber elements. We have to verify every timber element for shear, but from my experience the shear verification is rarely the most critical one. It might be critical if you have a few point loads close to a support. The shear properties of timber aren't too bad. As we know from simply supported or continuous beams, the biggest shear forces appear close to supports. So today, I am gonna show you how you verify timber for shear...

Hi friends, I have taken it a bit slower on Structural Basics the last 3-4 weeks, because I am super busy at my full-time job right now, working many extra hours. My first triathlon Ironman 70.3 Zell am See is only 2 weeks out. So I also spent many hours training each week to get the kilometers in. And then there was also Festwoche happening which is a beer festival like Oktoberfest in my hometown Kempten. It's great. I go to the festival every year, because you meet many people you haven't...

Hi friends, Today, we’ll look at the bending design verification of timber. Bending Verification of Timber According to Eurocode 5 Bending in timber elements happens for example in every beam that is exposed to line or point loads like rafters, purlins and other beams. The strength of timber for bending is quite good. And the strength types are actually named after the bending strength. Structural wood C24 has a characteristic bending strength of 24 MPa and glulam GL28h 28MPa. So today, I am...