The object sought in this book is to collect from the many larger and more exhaustive works on structural steel design, those parts which are applicable to simple structures, and which can be taken up in technical schools in the limited time usually allotted to the subject; and at the same time, to show by general cases and specific examples how the simple laws of statics may be applied to the details of steel structures with the object of producing details which are in accord with the stresses they have to transmit.
It is presumed that the student has already finished a course in stresses, and little time is given here to the methods of caleu lating the primary stresses in structures.
An effort has been made to make the nomenclature, through out, conform to that used in Stresses in Structures, by Prof. A. H. Heller, and a table is given so that the meaning of any letter or character in any formula can be at once determined by reference to it. In some cases where reference is made to another book, and a formula is taken bodily from it, the nomenclature of the original author is retained and the meaning of the letters given in connection.
Cross references to other articles in this book are indicated by figures in parentheses giving the article number, thus (14) References to other works on the subject are given in foot notes.
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. C. C. Heller for the privilege of using various manuscript notes and sketches, left at his death by Prof. A. H. Heller, which have formed the basis of many of the articles. In this book.
It is hoped that by the illustrations given and the methods employed, the reasons will be made apparent for many of the details commonly employed in structural work, and which are many times put in by rule of thumb and too Often without due consideration of the stresses they have to carry.