The Eurocode standard is one of the most significant accomplishments in the field of construction design, both at the European and the International level. They have replaced the British standards and the German DIN, used in many countries worldwide, thus setting a new, globally applicable, standard for the industry, covering all aspects of construction. Nowadays, an engineer, using this solid, universal platform, can work anywhere around the world and especially in countries where earthquake resistant design is a must.
Volume Α’ of the book series EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT BUILDINGS, comprises a full description of the buildings structural frame and its behaviour, including loads applied and materials used.
Volume Β’ presents the structural analysis of buildings, through which stresses and deformations are the calculated.
Volume C’ (under publication) comprises the dimensioning of structural elements, i.e. checking elements for sufficient resistance and calculating the required reinforcement to achieve it.
This book aims at providing the engineer of the professional practice with an interpretation of the EC0, EC2, EC8 requirements into practical applications rules, thus allowing him/her to establish a feeling of the order of magnitude applying to the various quantities used in the analysis. In this way:
(a) The interpretation assists the engineer to gain access to a basic level of knowledge through a wide range of examples, covering, beyond the usual cases encountered in every-day practice, some non-ordinary ones. However, despite the usefulness of these latter examples, they do not, in their majority, form part of the professional routine.
(b) Practical applications are explained through specific arithmetic examples, covering a wide range of hypothetical cases. Solving the examples is performed using both conventional/manual methods of calculation and specific software, given that nowadays structural analysis software is an essential tool for the engineer.
(c) Combining examples with specific data magnitudes, we end up with a wide range of specific results concerning the magnitude of the parameters used. It is through this interplay between data and results, which are compared continuously, that the reader is gradually able to grasp the relevance and have a feeling of the order of magnitude. It is the capacity of the engineer to determine the order of magnitude that comprises the critical safeguard he can use against any type of errors in the analysis.
Using the Eurocodes as its point of departure, this book attempts to bridge the classic structural analysis, limited by the computational capabilities of its era, with the modern, much more sophisticated, software-aided analysis.
Within this context, it is clear that the need for life education is particularly essential in the field of engineering, where knowledge and especially the tools for implementing it, change rapidly. The book is structured in in such a way so as to address as wide a range of readers as practically possible, from the student and the beginner, to the experienced professional, each being able to widen its knowledge to the extent allowed by its experience.
The book at hand is supported by the StereoSTATIKA, a structural analysis software based on the BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology. The combination of BIM technology with a Virtual Reality environment, also supported by StereoSTATIKA, succeeds in setting technology at the service of the engineer. In addition, the visual interaction between the engineer and the software, permitting him to either accept or reject the options offered, allows the engineer to focus on the creative side of his work rather than the strictly procedural. Most of the book figures have been created through this software, using which the engineer may re-run almost all examples in a practically infinite number of variations.
Athens, September 2012 and July 2013