Statement on required load combinations for wind uplift.
…
Author Archives : Rafael Sabelli, S.E.
Rafael Sabelli is a Principal and Director of Seismic Design at Walter P Moore. Rafael has earned a Special Achievement Award from AISC, as well as the T.R. Higgins Lectureship award. He is active in the development of seismic design standards for steel systems and is vice-chair of the AISC Seismic Provisions Committee, a member of the ASCE 7 Seismic Task Committee, and the NIST Building Seismic Safety Council’s Provisions Update Committee. Rafael is the chair of the AISC Seismic Design Manual committee and was the Project manager for the 5-volume SEAOC Seismic Design Manual. Rafael is a co-author of Ductile Design of Steel Structures. He has served as Chair of the Seismology Committee of the Structural Engineers Association of California and as President of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California.
The Northridge earthquake exposed the need for a more considered approach to seismic design. In the case of braced frames, this led to a closer examination of the behavior of the system and its components at large drifts. Engineers changed their approach to analysis, proportioning, and detailing of braced frames to avoid connection failure and other unfavorable behaviors they had observed. Simultaneously, lessons learned in the research on steel moment resisting frames, such as examination of expected material strength, were applied to the design of braced frames. The post-Northridge era also saw the introduction of the buckling-restrained brace as a useful tool in seismic design. …
Read More →
Performance-Based Design of the New Air Traffic Control Tower
Walter P Moore was an Outstanding Award Winner for its Air Traffic Control Tower and Integrated Facilities Building project in the 2016 NCSEA Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards Program in the Category – New Buildings over $100M. …
The New Atrium Roof at the California Academy of Sciences Plays a Supporting Role to a Landmark Building
Walter P Moore was an Award Winner for the Atrium Operable Roof – California Academy of Sciences project in the 2012 NCSEA Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering awards program (Category – Other Structures).
When planning and designing the new operable roof at the California Academy of Sciences, the foremost concern was to allow the critically-acclaimed building to hold center stage while the new roof provided weather protection and ventilation quietly and elegantly in the background. …