StructEd Bulletin

A practical weekly engineering digest.

If you’re interested in staying up-to-date on the latest codes & standards updates, research impacting our practice, case studies/failure analyses, and tools to help you do what you do better and faster, sign up below. 👇

Issue #7

This week’s StructEd Bulletin highlights a new experimental study showing how thin‐walled open‐section steel beams resist “pure bending” far less cleanly than theory suggests. Even with shear‐center loading, small geometric imperfections and gravity‐induced torsion drove coupled local and global buckling, underscoring the limits of idealized bending‐only models. RISAConnection v17 also arrives with AISC 360‐22 support, expanded shape libraries, and improved HSS and base‐plate workflows. The featured case study reviews several welded‐steel failures where brittle fracture, hydrogen embrittlement, and heat‐affected‐zone microstructures dominated behavior — a reminder that modern alloys demand more careful weld preparation than traditional mild steels. Rounding out the issue are three free upcoming PDH sessions covering mass timber construction types, project‐management fundamentals, and advanced fire‐life‐safety design.

Apr 16, 2026

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2 min read

Issue #6

This issue highlights new research on full‐length injected tie‐rods as a low‐visibility, highly effective retrofit for unreinforced masonry; a seismic case study from Greece showing soil–structure interaction doubling drift demands in historic load‐bearing masonry; a brief workflow note on nonlinear concrete updates in CSiBridge; several upcoming free PDH sessions on mass timber, pedestrian bridge design, and project‐management fundamentals; and a quick update on FEMA’s ongoing funding lapse during the prolonged federal shutdown.

Apr 8, 2026

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5 min read

Issue #5

This week’s StructEd Brief covers a packed slate of code updates and public comment opportunities, a standout research snapshot on precast AAC beams edging closer to real-world viability, and a deep dive into the 2000 Commonwealth Ave punching-shear collapse. Plus: new CSiBridge features, fresh PDH opportunities, and quick-hit industry news worth keeping on your radar.

Mar 31, 2026

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7 min read

Issue #4 - March 24, 2026

This week's focus for research & case study is steel. On the research front, a new study on interpretable machine learning for double‐shear bolted connections shows how transparent ML models can outperform legacy code equations while still letting us see the mechanics behind the predictions. SAP2000 v27.1.0 dropped with new code support and nonlinear concrete updates. This week’s case study revisits the Hard Rock Hotel collapse, a clear example of construction‐phase load paths and redundancy failures.

Mar 24, 2026

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6 min read

Issue #3 - March 17, 2026

This week’s StructEd Bulletin highlights several major standards actions now open for public comment—including NFPA 5000’s proposed TIA, the AISC Code of Standard Practice draft, and upcoming ICC 2027 I‐Code hearings—alongside a new research snapshot suggesting that larger SDPWS nail edge distances may offer little uplift or shear benefit under monotonic loading. The issue also features Playwright as a workflow tool for automating standards monitoring, a CROSS case study on the collapse of a hybrid concrete/steel‐strand truss emphasizing redundancy and inspectability, three free PDH opportunities, and quick hits on FEMA funding uncertainty and NCSEA’s newly opened SE3 survey.

Mar 17, 2026

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5 min read