Rules of Thumb for steel design

In earlier times when computers were neither available nor essential, one objective of the structural design process was to discover a computational method, which was elegant, simple and appropriately accurate. When such a process was identified it was recorded as an expedient approach to solving a recurring structural design problem.  Thus, quick “Rules of Thumb” became essential resources for the structural engineer.

As computer software has proliferated, has become very comprehensive, and has been made very user friendly, the importance of rules of thumb and approximate methods has been diminished.  It has been argued that, with the computational speed and ease of application of computer methods, the need for approximations and “Rules of Thumb” no longer exists.  However, equally imposing arguments can be made for the value of these quick approaches such as:

• The structural engineer should have tools to make on-the-spot intelligent decisions,
• A reasonable solution is often required as computer input,
• The validity of the computer output should be verified with rational approximations.

So, with the objective of fostering continued development, use and enthusiasm for “Rules of Thumb” and approximate methods, several steel framing “Rules of Thumb” will be provided in this presentation.  Because a majority of these have been developed over the past they are based on Allowable Stress Design (ASD)  and are in imperial units.

Les Ingénieurs en structure de Montréal souhaite la bienvenue à tous. L’entrée est libre. Si vous désirez recevoir un avis électronique des prochaines réunions, envoyez un courriel à info@ism-mse.ca.

Cette présentation se tiendra en anglais.