- Page 40 of 49 - News, Notes and Discussion from the Simpson Strong-Tie Engineering Department

Simpson Strong-Tie Literature at Your Fingertips

A couple of years ago, my brother-in-law asked if I could stop by the swim club where he is a board member. He was overseeing a construction project to upgrade the buildings and patio covers, which involved dry-rot repairs and the addition of Simpson Strong-Tie® connectors to create a continuous load path. He wanted me to meet with the contractor and make some suggestions for alternate connectors. The as-built conditions didn’t work for the specified connectors at a few locations, and there were some spots where he thought the connectors were “ugly.” I’m probably in the minority on this, but I think shiny galvanized steel connectors are just beautiful. So the “ugly” comment stung a little bit.

Once I got over my hurt feelings, I grabbed my Wood Construction Connectors catalog, a Deck Connection and Fastening Guide, and a few other fliers and technical bulletins that I thought might be helpful and drove across town to meet them. With literature in hand, we were able to come up with ways to work around the more difficult areas, and also select some more aesthetically pleasing architectural connectors at prominent locations. I thought we were done, and then the contractor had a few more questions on anchoring that I needed an Anchoring and Fastening Systems Catalog to look up some information on – and I didn’t have one! I managed to muddle through with my smartphone and find the information online, but couldn’t help but think that there had to be a better way to access design information when you are out of the office.

The better way has arrived in the latest version of the Simpson Strong-Tie® Literature Library mobile app. It was just launched this month and is much more comprehensive than the first version. There are several new features that I wanted to highlight for you.

Steel Roof Decking

My wife, Kristin, sometimes gets angry with me while grocery shopping. It’s understandable. She’s asked me to grab some tomatoes or a loaf of bread and instead I’m just standing there looking up at the ceiling. Technically, it’s not a ceiling, but the underside of the roof, and I’m looking up to see the connection detailing, including whether or not the steel roof deck I’m looking at was welded, pinned, or screwed down to the steel joist, beam and angle supports.

If you’re a structural engineer, you might also do this inside your local supermarket, Target, Walmart or The Home Depot. Many of these “big box” stores are typically constructed of tilt-up concrete perimeter walls, tube steel interior columns, and roofs built of steel joists, girders and decking. Though Simpson Strong-Tie is well known in the light-frame wood construction industry, some may not know that we’ve long been developing and selling anchors and fasteners for commercial construction.

Outside of a few dips into a Verco or ASC steel decking catalog from my consulting days in Las Vegas, my first real foray into the steel decking industry was about two years ago. I was asked to assist in representing Simpson Strong-Tie as an associate member at the Steel Deck Institute’s (SDI) quarterly meeting held just down the road in Dallas in November 2011. Since joining SDI, my main focus has been to find out what the industry needs, both from the installer’s and designer’s standpoint for steel deck attachment. Though we’ve had a screw attachment offering for years, my colleagues and I have worked to develop a better overall system which now includes:

2013 Buildings At Risk Summit Focused on Individual and Community Safety, Resiliency

The Structural Engineers Association of Northern and Southern California hosted the third annual Buildings At Risk ǀ Earthquake Loss Reduction Summit in Los Angeles on October 8 and in San Francisco on October 15. Robust panel presentations and discussions presented by professionals from diverse yet complimentary fields targeted a mixed audience of building owners, architects, engineers, government officials, insurance representatives, and financial industry representatives.Continue Reading

Hurricane Sandy, One Year Later

[Simpson Strong-Tie note: Shane Vilasineekul is the Simpson Strong-Tie Engineering Manager for the Northeast U.S. and one of our guest bloggers for the Structural Engineering Blog. For more on Shane, see his bio here.]

The end of this month will mark the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy hitting the coastlines of New Jersey, New York, and surrounding states. A lot of construction has taken place in the last 12 months, but most of the rebuilding will occur over the next few years. The boardwalks were a high priority because of their effect on tourism, which is so vital to the local economies, and most of them have been completed (see my previous post about rebuilding after Sandy here). Now the focus has shifted to repairing, raising, and rebuilding homes.

Boardwalk under construction. Image credit: Matt Cross, Simpson Strong-Tie.

I am writing this while sitting in the Newark airport, headed home after presenting one of our workshops on high wind design. The workshop was held at a hotel in Manahawkin, New Jersey that happened to be used last year by residents displaced by the storm, including some of the architects and engineers in attendance this morning. After talking to a few of them at the breaks, it sounded like they are struggling with the current state of building provisions, which were quickly put in place to ensure rebuilt properties are more resilient, including new flood elevations and renewed focus on code compliance.

Structural Engineering, Shamu, and Calzones

I attended the SEAOC Convention in Santa Fe last year, and briefly mentioned it in this blog post. It was the first convention I had attended. I knew the presentations would be top notch based on the topics and knowing many of the speakers, but I had no idea how much Ashraf Habibullah and the other folks at Computers and Structures loved to party! The event they hosted at the Gerald Peters Gallery was beyond anything I expected – amazing food, art, dancing, open bar and even iPad giveaways.I was looking forward to attending the SEAOC Convention in San Diego this year, until I realized I would be in Quebec for ASTM D07 committee meetings that week.

So this week’s post summarizing the SEAOC Convention comes from Tim Stauffer, an R&D Engineer at our headquarters. Since joining Simpson Strong-Tie in 2008, Tim has worked on lateral system products, product development for our wood connectors, and development of products for the cold-formed steel industry where he was lead engineer for development of our line of connectors for curtain-wall construction. Prior to joining Simpson Strong-Tie, Tim worked for 15 years as a consulting structural engineer, including eight years where he ran his own practice. His experience includes the design, analysis and investigation of steel, concrete, masonry, and wood-frame buildings. Tim is a licensed professional engineer and structural engineer in the state of California. He received his bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and a Master’s of Science in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley.

What do structural engineering, reconnecting with old friends, Shamu the whale, and a restaurant that serves the biggest calzone around have in common? The 2013 SEAOC Convention, of course! Held September 18-21 in San Diego, the annual convention is a great opportunity to learn about advances in the structural engineering profession, as well as spend time networking and re-connecting. Simpson Strong-Tie has always been a SEAOC supporter, and this year was no exception with a number of us from headquarters attending, as well as engineers and sales folks from our two California branches.

The two-and-a-half days of technical sessions included presentations on sustainability and design for solar installations; advancements in design for wood, concrete, and steel; wind, seismic, and blast analysis and design; tall structures and base isolation; and presentations on a variety of unique design projects. Of particular interest to many of us at Simpson Strong-Tie were presentations on high-rise wood structures, the growing use of cross laminated timber (CLT), the NEES-Soft testing performed at UCSD (including tests of buildings strengthened with our new Strong Frame® special moment frame), and advancements in steel moment frame design. Go here to view the convention program, including a complete list of the technical presentations.

Attendees listen to one of the many presentations offered at the SEAOC Convention Image credit: Computers & Structures, Inc. — A presentation at the SEAOC Convention. Photo courtesy of Computers & Structures, Inc.

In addition to the top-notch technical sessions, there was plenty of opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and build new relationships. Many of us worked for consulting firms before coming to Simpson Strong-Tie, and the convention was a great opportunity to catch up with former co-workers. The ability to maintain connections with designers is invaluable for us as we develop products to solve real-world challenges to help people build safer, stronger structures. For more about the value of networking and how to get involved with industry organizations, see Annie Kao’s recent blog post.

Wendy Allen, a Field Engineer from our Northwest region and a SEAONC board member, makes some new friends Image credit: Brad Erickson, Simpson Strong-Tie — Simpson Strong-Tie Field Engineer Northwest Region and SEAONC Board Member Wendy Allen, PE, makes some new friends. Image credit: Brad Erickson, Simpson Strong-Tie.

Why Your NDS Nail Calcs Could Be Wrong. . .And What You Can Do About It

This week’s post was written by Bob Leichti, Manager of Engineering for Fastening Systems. Prior to joining Simpson Strong-Tie in 2012, Bob was an Engineering Manager covering structural fasteners, hand tools, regulatory compliance and code reports for a major manufacturer of power tools and equipment. Prior to that, Bob was a Professor in the Department of Wood Science and Engineering at Oregon State University. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Auburn University.

When test results don’t make sense, we start by eliminating causes of the problem. When our withdrawal test values came up low, we checked the load cell calibration, the specific gravity of the wood, the nail dimensions, even the units – everything was correct. So why were the nail withdrawal values so low? More wood, more nails, more tests – same results. Ultimately, we concluded that the withdrawal resistance of stainless-steel, smooth-shank nails is not well described by the withdrawal function in the 2012 NDS, section 11.2.3, equation 11.2-3.Continue Reading

City of San Francisco Implements Soft-Story Retrofit Ordinance

The city of San Francisco is a unique construction environment that is 98% built-out with little new residential construction. Protecting the existing structures is particularly imperative to save the character of the city and maintain the population base by preventing a major migration out of the city after a large seismic event.

The Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) was a San Francisco Department of Building Inspection 10-year-long study started in 1998 to study earthquake risks in San Francisco and develop suggestions for mitigating loss of life and property damage from future earthquakes. I once worked as a volunteer on a sidewalk survey to inventory soft-story buildings as part of CAPSS. The key recommendations of CAPSS evolved into the CAPSS Earthquake Safety Implementation Program (ESIP), which has 50 tasks that will be implemented over the next 30 years.

One of those tasks includes the Mandatory Soft-Story Retrofit Program, which Mayor Ed Lee signed into law on April 18, 2013 at the annual commemoration of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The law requires wood-framed buildings that:

Were built prior to 1978
Are three stories or more and,
Have five or more dwelling units

to be evaluated and brought into compliance. The city sent notices to building owners on September 15. It’s estimated that there are between 4,000 and 10,000 structures that fall under the program.

23rd Short Course on CFS Structures: October 15-17 in St. Louis

Simpson Strong-Tie is sponsoring the 23^rd Short Course on Cold-Formed Steel Structures hosted by the Wei-Wen Yu Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures (CCFSS). The course will be held on October 15-17, 2013 at the Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch in St. Louis, MO.

This course is for engineers who have limited or no experience designing with cold-formed steel (CFS), as well as those with experience who would like to expand their knowledge. Lectures will be given by industry-recognized experts Roger LaBoube, Ph.D, P.E., and Sutton Stephens, Ph.D, P.E., S.E. The course is based on the 2007 and 2012 AISI North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members with the 2010 Supplement (AISI S100-07/S2-10 and S100-12) and will reference the Cold-Formed Steel Design (4^th Edition) text.

Topics include design of wall studs, floor joists, purlins, girts, decks and panels. For more information and to register, visit the CCFSS website.

– Jeff

Getting Involved and Staying Connected in the Industry

I’m excited to share some tips on getting more involved with the structural engineering community. There are many organizations and industry associations related to structural engineering that it can feel daunting to try to meet all of the key players and make a name for yourself.

I have a really unique and fun job at Simpson Strong-Tie as a field engineer for our light-frame construction products, which include connectors, fasteners, and lateral systems. As a field engineer, I spend most of my time out on the road visiting engineers, architects, building officials, contractors, and others who need technical assistance using our product lines. While this means I spend a good chunk of time in SoCal traffic, I do get to talk to lots of different people working on projects ranging from small home remodels that might be using our new Strong-Frame® special moment frame to huge multi-family housing projects with several thousand units.

I also make sure to attend as many industry association functions as I can, because these are the best places to network and meet other professionals. There are many great organizations, including the Structural Engineers Association, which has chapters all over the United States. The California chapters have very strong participation. I also suggest getting involved in other industry organizations that include people outside of the profession, such as building officials, inspectors, contractors, builders, and architects. These people play an integral part in the construction industry and it’s important to understand their role and importance in supporting structural engineering.

Upcoming Steel Deck Institute Webinars: 10/23 and 11/13

Steel Deck Institute (SDI) is hosting a “Designing With Steel Roof Deck” webinar on October 23 and November 13 at 11 a.m. EST. The webinar is intended to expand participants’ knowledge of steel roof deck by introducing them to the benefits, manufacturing processes, shapes, properties, and finishes of this product. The basis of the presentation is SDI’s new Roof Deck Design Manual, which will be provided to participants. Various roof deck design considerations will be explored as well as an overall coverage of fasteners and industry construction practices.

CANAM/United Steel Deck and Vulcraft will be presenting. Simpson Strong-Tie will be moderating the webinar and providing two PDHs (0.2 CEUs) for participants. Click here to sign up for one of the webinars.