Scholar Profiles
Kevin Beery
2005 - 2006 University Scholar
Mentor: Tom Sputo
College of Engineering
"I am interested in attending graduate school, and the USP has allowed me to learn the basics about how research is conducted and how to report your findings."
Kevin is a senior majoring in civil engineering. He is an Anderson Scholar and has been on the dean’s list in his college multiple times. He is a member of the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He also is captain of the 2006 UF Steel Bridge Team, which will participate in a national model bridge building contest. For the past two years, Kevin has served as an intramural soccer referee. He also is an avid swimmer and surfer.
Research Description:
Accumulation of Bracing Strength and Stiffness Demand in Steel Stud Walls
Advances in computing power have provided researchers and engineers the ability to develop numeric solutions to structural stability problems that are too complex for simple closed form solutions. This ability has provided structural engineers with the ability to more safely design structures.
Closed form solutions for the necessary bracing stiffness and strength to brace a single column have been available for nearly 50 years. No guidance exists, however, for developing bracing for multiple columns in a structure. With the recent increase in the use of cold-formed steel studs in axial load bearing construction, the need to understand the bracing requirements for multiple studs in a wall has become imperative.
Using non-linear elastic software, it is possible to replicate the required bracing strength and stiffness demand for a single compression member that was previously derived. If it is possible to analytically determine the required bracing strength and stiffness demand for a single stud, it should also be possible to extend this to multiple studs. This project will endeavor to analytically determine how the demand for bracing strength and stiffness accumulate over multiple studs in an axially loaded wall, provide clear guidance to practicing structural engineers, and determine a direction for further study of accumulated force and stiffness demand.
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