Technical Library · Hibbeler
Statics and Mechanics of Materials
Ch. 1: Foundry roof beam
Sizing the roof beam for the covered double-burner/coal-forge setup — a single 2×8 is out, and bending strength drops as boards get wider, so even a 2×10 needs a closer look.
Ch. 2: Foundry roof post — buckling & compression
Continues Chapter 1's open item — does the treated wood post holding up the foundry roof beam actually hold, or does it buckle or crush first?
Ch. 3: Foundry roof — wind uplift
Closes the last open item from Chapters 1–2 — does wind try to lift the foundry roof off, using Charleston, WV's real design wind speed?
Ch. 4: Gabion terrace wall — retaining wall stability
An MM Local build: structural gabion retaining walls for terraced garden beds, sized (basket depth) for a real sign-off spec.
Ch. 5: Terrace steps — small gabion modules
Three flights of steps matching the gabion terrace walls — a short entry, since without lateral earth pressure the only real load is foot traffic.
Ch. 6: Elevated greenhouse deck — tributary load & load path
A simplified teaching case for MM's planned greenhouse/carport addition — the real build is engineer-stamp territory; this builds the load-path vocabulary to work with that engineer as a peer.
Ch. 7: Fire Tower (Tier 1 test build) — slenderness vs. load capacity
A small, illustrative test tower for the Fire Tower Network — a member can pass a strength check and still fail a separate slenderness check.
Ch. 8: Ogopogo modular joints — fastener-limited vs. member-limited connections
When is a lag-bolted connection on the Ogopogo's moon-eye/melon-head joints enough, and when should it switch to integral joinery?
Ch. 9: Snawfus Hearth — soil bearing pressure
Does the slab under MM's premier thermal masonry heater actually carry the weight — and what really governs, the soil or the slab?
Ch. 10: Uktena cistern — water weight & hydrostatic pressure on masonry walls
What the slab under the Uktena catchment carries, and what the water does to the walls — the real governing check, not the bearing number.
Ch. 11: Ogua hot tub — same wall math, different depth
The Uktena cistern with the lid off — a short entry, since base moment scales with depth cubed, so a shallower tub needs far less wall steel.
Ch. 12: Fire Tower cross-bracing — trusses and the method of joints
Closes Chapter 7's open item — a braced 4×4 leg beats the NDS slenderness cap without upsizing to 6×6, if the bracing is sized right.
Ch. 13: Combined loadings — when a post carries weight and wind at the same time
Chapters 2 and 3 checked the foundry roof post against compression and wind uplift separately — this checks them together, since a post can pass both alone and still fail combined.
Ch. 14: Transverse shear — notched beam ends and integral joinery
Chapter 1 sized the roof beam for bending at mid-span — this is the different way a beam fails right at the support, and why a notched joint needs a generous shoulder.
Ch. 15: Deflection of beams — how much sag is too much
A beam can pass the strength check and still fail serviceability — visible sag, ponding, sticking doors. The Chapter 1 roof beam gets checked against that separate standard.
Ch. 16: Torsion — the paddle wheel drive shaft
Every chapter so far has been a load pushing or pulling straight through a member — this is a twisting load, the first MM build in the guide that actually spins.
Ch. 17: Built-up beams — doubling up instead of upsizing
Two joists side by side add their strength as long as both carry the load; stacked in depth, the fastening decides whether you get the sum or a beam twice as deep.
Hibbeler map — what the guide has used
Based on the 5th edition: 17 chapters, with 1–6 on statics and 7–17 on mechanics of materials. Other editions number things differently.
- 1 Roof beam: Hibbeler ch. 3 (distributed loading), 4 (equilibrium), 11 (shear/moment, flexure formula), 15 (beam design) — plus ASCE 7 snow load, NDS lumber stresses
- 2 Post: Hibbeler ch. 6 (moment of inertia), 7 (normal stress), 17 (column buckling) — plus NDS values
- 3 Wind uplift: Hibbeler ch. 4 (equilibrium) — plus ASCE 7 wind
- 4 Gabion wall: Hibbeler ch. 3 (distributed loading), 4 (equilibrium, dry friction) — plus Rankine earth pressure (soil mechanics)
- 6 Greenhouse deck: Hibbeler ch. 3, 4
- 7 Fire tower: Hibbeler ch. 6 (moment of inertia), 17 (columns) — plus NDS slenderness limit
- 8 Ogopogo joints: Hibbeler ch. 7 (average shear stress, allowable stress design) — plus NDS lag screw values
- 9–11 Snawfus, Uktena, Ogua: Hibbeler ch. 3 (distributed loading), 7 (stress), 11 (flexure formula) — plus Presumptive soil bearing, masonry design (TMS 402)
- 12 Fire tower bracing: Hibbeler ch. 5 (structural analysis, method of joints), 17 (slenderness) — plus NDS slenderness limit
- 13 Post combined loading: Hibbeler ch. 13 (combined loadings)
- 14 Ogopogo shear: Hibbeler ch. 12 (transverse shear)
- 15 Roof beam deflection: Hibbeler ch. 16 (beam deflection) — plus Common L/240, L/360 serviceability limits
- 16 Paddle wheel shaft: Hibbeler ch. 10 (torsion) — plus Callister (shaft material allowable shear)
- 17 Greenhouse built-up beam: Hibbeler ch. 6.5 (composite areas)
Still unused, and what's waiting for it
- Ch. 1–2 Intro / basic stress and strain: No build has needed the from-scratch basics yet — every chapter so far started from a specific failure mode instead
- Ch. 9 Stress transformation (basic): Feeds into Ch. 14 (Ogopogo shear), otherwise untouched
- Ch. 14 Stress and Strain Transformation (Mohr's circle): Parked — only if a build puts a member under combined loading complex enough to need it (most MM builds won't)