Light-Frame Residential Structural Design: Basic Concepts
- Course Number: S1055
- Credits: 1 hours
- Instructor: Ellen C. Huang, PE
- Price: $10
Course Outline
This course introduces the basic concepts of light-frame residential structural design, with emphasis on how loads are identified, transferred, and resisted in light-framed homes. It explains vertical and lateral load paths, gravity loads, wind uplift, seismic forces, diaphragm action, shear walls, overturning effects, system behavior, load sharing, composite action, and the importance of continuous connections from the roof to the foundation. The course also highlights how actual residential structural behavior may differ from simplified engineering assumptions and why sound judgment, code compliance, and practical detailing are essential in residential design.
An open-book quiz is included at the end of the course to reinforce the course material.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
- Explain the basic goals of structural design for light-frame residential buildings, including strength, stiffness, stability, durability, and safety.
- Identify common vertical and lateral loads acting on residential structures and describe how these loads affect structural response.
- Trace gravity, wind uplift, and lateral load paths through roof, wall, floor, foundation, and connection systems.
- Describe the role of system effects, including load sharing, composite action, diaphragms, shear walls, overturning resistance, and continuous load paths in residential structural performance.
Course Content
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