Tough as Steel: Structural Design for a Modern City
If you look at an average Chinese city, you will see dozens, perhaps 100s, of cranes raising tall buildings. The important factor in the development of such edifices is steel. Such structures are the backbone of each metropolis.
Prior to the cranes doing their bit, it must be drafted. And this is where steel structure detailing has its introduction. Structural detailing design is essential to the safety of the individuals who live in and around a building, and indeed the safety of the individuals actually erecting the building. A huge amount of planning is essential in order to fulfill safety regulations while meeting all the stipulations the client and architect have ordered.
A steel detail designer needs to know everything about force and pressure - when to get the building to yield to outer forces, and when to withstand such forces, to maximize the unity of the building. A structure must also withstand huge weights, and so this must also be taken into account. From snow weight to wind speed, a steel structure detailer must design for all kinds of external pressures.
Nowadays, there are more and more demands for creative building designs, which means the detailer can often find himself working on difficult designs and seek to translate them into a safe living space for hundreds of individuals.
However, it’s not all bad for the detailer - software packages like Asteel, Tekla Steel and AutoCad have helped hurry up the procedure of drafting and detailing structures.
