Wind Loads on Tanks
Wind Loads on Tanks In the ASCE 7-16 publication, new sections were added to address wind loads on tanks, bins, and silos. All three of these structures (tanks, bins, and silos) are handled exactly the same, since all of these structures are basically the same...
Steel Stack Deflection
Steel Stack Deflection When designing a stack should steel stack deflection be a concern? It’s a good question and one that comes up frequently, The design standards give some guidance, but the standards vary in how they handle steel stack deflection and there...
Wind Loads at Elevations
Wind Loads at Elevations In designing structures we typically want to calculate wind loads at elevations that are important for the structure. Some tall buildings have each floor being the same height and other structures such as the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in...
Stack Conical Transition Analysis
Stack Conical Transition Analysis Analysis of a conical transition isn’t as simply as looking at just the section properties along the cone. Cone-cylinder junctions are areas of high discontinuity stresses. They have unbalanced radial loads from the axial and...
Wind Loads on Freestanding Walls
Wind Loads on Freestanding Walls This article addresses the method used to calculate wind loads on a freestanding wall. This calculation follows the same method as that used for solid signs, which we have covered in a previous article. The calculation of wind loads...
Anchor Bolt Pretension
Anchor Bolt Pretension There is nothing simple about recommending anchor bolt pretension, ask ten engineers and you could get eleven different recommendations. Meca has done all of the research in order to try to resolve this topic once and for all…at least...
Wind Loads on Solid Signs
Wind Loads on Solid Signs While in a dream driving down the highway, I saw the image shown above and I thought to myself that this must be a sign. I was correct, it was a sign. A sign that we need to write an article explaining how to calculate wind loads on solid...
Anchor Bolt Design
Anchor Bolt Design MecaStack performs anchor bolt designs for tensile and shear loads, using some common codes. This hasn’t always been true, starting in v5534 some new standards were added and this article explains the technical details associated with these...
2020 Florida Building Code 7th Edition
2020 Florida Building Code 7th Edition It was Benjamain Franklin that said “..in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and code changes”. Ok, maybe I added that part about code changes, but it is true. Just about the time...
Wind Load on a Canopy
Wind Load on a Canopy ASCE 7-16 added a new option to address wind loads on a canopy attached to a building with a h <= 60 ft [18.3 m]. This new criteria for canopies is addressed in ASCE 7-16 Section 30.11, and since it is in Section 30, the canopy is classified...
Too Close for Comfort
Too Close for Comfort How close can you space stacks? It’s a common question, and one that doesn’t have a simple answer. There are several factors that should be considered, and I’m going to go over those factors in this article. The Theory: When...
Wind Load on Parapets
Wind Load on Parapets ASCE 7 has multiple methods for calculating wind loads on a Parapet. In the context of a building design, a parapet is a low protective wall along the edge of a roof. It could be used to hide equipment on the roof and it can also serve as a...
Navigating the Output Like a Boss
Navigating the Output Like a Boss There are many useful features within the output window that can save the designer time and energy. Here is a video to illustrate these features and how to navigate the calculation output. Watch...
Wind on Rooftop Structures and Equipment
Wind on Rooftop Structures and Equipment ASCE 7 has a method for calculating wind loads on rooftop Structures and equipment for buildings, and this article will describe that method. Fortunately, the method is relatively straight forward, not too complicated, and is...
Components and Cladding Example
Components and Cladding Example This article provides a Components and Cladding (C&C) example calculation for a typical building structure. We will first perform the calculations manually, and then show how the same calculations can be performed much easier using...
Fastest-Mile Wind Speed
Many times we have the difficult task of analyzing a structure that was designed long ago. In such cases, you may find that the wind speed used may appear significantly lower than the wind speed you would expect for that location using today’s standards. In...
Climbing the Ladder
Climbing the Ladder MecaStack allows the user to enter ladders and platforms on their stack. These are considered an appurtenance, and not adding any structural stiffness to the stack. MecaStack does consider the wind area and weight added by these ladders and...
ASCE 7 Wind on Stacks and Similar
ASCE 7 Wind on Stacks and Similar This article will explain how to calculate wind loads per ASCE 7 on stacks/chimneys and similar structures. ASCE 7-16, Chapter 29 covers “Other Structures”. This is a very broad section that covers a lot of different...
Troitsky Breach Analysis
Troitsky Breach Analysis This article covers the Troitsky Breach Analysis method. A breach is an opening in the cylindrical shell of the stack that compromises its structural integrity. This is usually either a rectangular ducting connection or a cylindrical pipe...
Wind Wizard
Wind Wizard MecaWind has many features and options within the software, which can be both a blessing and a curse. It gives the user greater control over the results they obtain, but for the novice user it can be overwhelming to understand what is being requested with...
Piggy-Back Stacks
Piggy-Back Stacks We often get the question of how to model a Tandem or Piggy back stack in MecaStack. One can be handled by the software and the other cannot. Piggy-Back Stacks: A Piggy-Back stack is one where one or more stack is supported by another stack. Usually...
How to Find Wind Pressure on Solar Panels
How to Find Wind Pressure on Solar Panels In this article we will investigate the procedure for calculating the design wind pressure on rooftop solar panels per ASCE 7-16 design code. I feel like the best way to describe this procedure is by working through an...
Ultimate Guide to Material Properties
Ultimate Guide to Material Properties MecaStack has a built in database for stack material properties, which are intended to help the designer. There are some common questions and problems that we see when it comes to the use of the stack material properties. ...
Base Reactions in MecaWind
Base Reactions in MecaWind There can be confusion from users on how to read and interpret the MecaWind Base Reactions that are provided by the MecaWind software program. There is a lot of data presented, and it can become overwhelming. This article is intended to...
Life is a Breach
Life is a Breach Updated April 16, 2020: The method of breach analysis discussed in this article is referred to as the “Section Property” method in MecaStack. As of v5506 there is now a method available called the “Troitsky” method, and an...
ASCE 7 Flexible Gust Factor
ASCE 7 Flexible Gust Factor When I was a new Engineer my boss had his stack design questioned by a client. My boss responded “Sir, I will serve you tea on the downwind side of that stack on the windiest day of the year.” That line (and disturbing image)...
One Click Components & Cladding
One Click Components & Cladding Would you like to be able to calculate all of your Components & Cladding (C&C) values with one Click? In this article that’s what we are going to show you. Component and Cladding Summary: The normal way of...
Add Some Guy Wires
Add Some Guy Wires When and why should I use guy wires on a stack? When a stack has a vortex shedding problem there can be many factors that determine which solutions are the best. Guy wires aren’t always the most conventional solution, but its always an option...