New textbook focuses on steel connection design
Research Associate Professor Mustafa Mahamid is part of a team of professionals that recently released the book “Steel Connection Design by Inelastic Analysis” based on their research and practical experience in engineering
While other steel design books cover basic design procedures using conventional methods that are good for simple connections in terms of geometry and loads, this book is the first of its kind to use the component-based finite element method with verification using American Institute of Steel Construction provisions that are used in the United States and other countries.
“With the increased complexities in structures, it is important to model structures accurately in a way that captures all failure modes and load distributions among the different elements, Mahamid said. “This is performed and achieved only by three-dimensional modeling. This topic focuses on steel connections that range from simple connections to complex connections.”
In day-to-day design, the design of steel connections is time-consuming and requires pages of calculations. The methodology and the verification presented in this book allow engineers to model even complex connections in a reasonably short amount of time, see all connection details in 3D as it is built in the field, and see the results visually.
“Additionally, with the advent of technology in our field, inelastic analysis can be used and is required in some cases, this topic uses inelastic analysis for steel connections with verification with AISC specifications to allow engineers to gain confidence in this advanced method and use it,” he said.
Mahamid collaborated with a team of highly qualified authors from Ohio State University, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Brno University of Technology, and Czech Technical University in Prague and combined more than four years of engineering research and development to create the book, which is geared toward students, teachers, researchers, and practicing engineers.