This week, I’d like to introduce Jeff Ellis as a guest blogger for the Structural Engineering Blog. Jeff is the Manager of Codes, Standards and Special Projects for Simpson Strong-Tie. Jeff will be posting occasionally on topics that are relevant to our work, especially related to cold-formed steel (CFS) construction. 

When was the last time you knew an earthquake was coming and witnessed its effects on a building without feeling any shaking yourself? Since the mid- to late ‘90’s, several uni-axial and tri-axial shake tables have been built and used to better understand whole building performance under actual earthquake ground motion in order to improve code requirements and, in some cases, develop performance-based design methods.Continue Reading