For Practicing Engineers

Articles

Working notes on the code-application traps that actually show up in practice — with the sections cited, so you can check us against the book.

Snow · ASCE 7-22

Flat roof snow load vs minimum snow load: the two 0.7 factors that get conflated

ASCE 7-22 has a 0.7 inside the flat-roof snow formula and a 0.7 in the ASD load combinations — and they are not the same factor. Applying both to the minimum snow load undershoots a design load by nearly a third. Where each 0.7 belongs, why pm is its own load case, and a worked example of the error.

 Seismic · ASCE 7-22

Multi-period vs two-period response spectrum: which one, and when

ASCE 7-22 introduced the multi-period response spectrum, but the familiar SDS/SD1 two-period spectrum didn't go away. When each is permitted, why the multi-period spectrum spikes at short periods in the Central and Eastern U.S., and the hybrid approach the ASCE 7-28 committee chairs recommend.

 Practice · AI

Can ChatGPT do structural calculations?

An honest answer, from someone building calculation software: no — not for numbers you stamp. What the published trials show about LLM reliability on indeterminate structures, where language models genuinely help an engineering practice, and what reproducibility means for professional liability.