Journal of Architectural Engineering

This paper presents the results of an experimental and analytical study of a slender monumental stair. The objective of the study was to gain insight into slender stair vibration issues and provide guidance for the design of such stairs. A slender monumental stair was vibration tested to estimate modal properties and acceleration due to walking. A detailed unadjusted finite-element model was created of the stair using only information that would be available to a designer. The model was used to predict the modal properties and accelerance magnitude. The accelerance magnitude was then used with established harmonic footstep forces to predict the steady-state acceleration due to walking. A factor was developed to account for imperfect resonant buildup, providing reasonable predictions of acceleration due to walking. Design forces were derived based on a set of stair ascent and descent footstep force measurements. An absolute minimum natural frequency is recommended for vertical and horizontal vibrations. Practical aspects of stair vibration analysis are discussed, including the handling of group loading, likely affected occupant locations, and guardrail lateral vibration.

This paper summarizes the findings of an experimental study to characterize the cyclic racking and monotonic loading performance of wood-stud and steel-stud wall specimens, which were sheathed on both faces with gypsum wall board (GWB). Some specimens were finished with joint compound at the GWB joints and over screw heads. The study provided data on monotonic and cyclic hysteresis load-displacement relationships. Based on the visual inspection of the specimens during the tests, several aspects of the failure modes were noted. Shear-load capacity and drift capacities were determined based on the envelope curves of the hysteresis cycles. A comparison of the envelope curves for steel-stud and wood-stud specimens provided insight as to the relative behaviors of the two wall system types, including capacity, measures of ductility, and energy dissipation. Finally, the study provided better understanding of the effects of finishing GWB joints on the shear capacity of the wall systems.

A three-dimensional computer-aided design virtual reconstruction of the medieval monastery of Santa Maria de Salzedas (Portugal) is presented. This monastery is the second largest Cistercian monastery of Portugal. However, the majority of the monastery disappeared after the extinction of the religious orders in the Age of Enlightenment without letting any vestige, and with almost no existing documentation. In order to allow visitors to better understand the monument and to assist the current conservation works, a virtual reconstruction of the medieval monastery is presented. The adopted approach for reconstruction includes the identification of an ideal plan of the Cistercian Order, comparison with similar buildings of the same period and architectonic styles, a historic study and in situ survey to detect parts from the previous building, and definition of the modeling unit or proportion used by the builders.

This paper proposes an approximate derivation for the critical buckling load of a column, based on the application of a uniformly loaded beam's midspan moment and deflection to the buckled column's rotational equilibrium. The curvature of a pin-ended member, when it buckles under axial load, is similar to the curvature assumed by the same member when it deflects under a uniformly distributed load applied transversely along its entire length. Euler's famous equation for critical buckling load is based, of course, on the former assumption, in which the deflected column assumes the shape of a sine curve. However, dividing a uniformly loaded beam's midspan moment by its deflection provides a conservative result for the critical buckling load, within 3% of Euler's value, that can be derived solely on the basis of these commonly used beam equations.