Professor Patrick L. Glon, PE (retired)

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Presents a SunCam continuing education series on the topic of:

Structural Engineering

Contact author at:
pat.glon@gmail.com
P. L. Glon Consulting, PC
23910 Old Oak Lane
Sturgis, MI 49091
(269) 651-7250
(269) 689-0713 cell

Pat received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1967 and a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering from Purdue in 1968. Prior to his retirement, Professor Glon was a licensed engineer in Indiana and Michigan.

Pat Glon has an extensive background in both academics and business.

From 1973 to 1994, Pat was a full time faculty member of the Department of Building Construction Management at Purdue University and retired with the rank of Professor Emeritus. He was also owner and CEO of a company that provided design and construction management for commercial, industrial, medical, and retail projects in Central Indiana. Recently Pat was Director of Quality Control on a $280M hospital project. He was formerly an Adjunct Professor at the Purdue College of Technology South Bend and also provided forensic consulting services for civil litigation.

Course Title Rating Hours Price

095-Fundamentals of Concrete

(4.8) 147 Reviews

3 $67.50

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Concrete takes a look at the properties of concrete including its ingredients as well as the nature of the product from its inception at mixing these ingredients to some of the final products. A clear discussion of the ingredients of concrete is included as well as the process that makes the initial slurry change to a hardened structural material. Some of concrete's material properties — such as workability, weight, and strength — are discussed including precautions and factors affecting these properties. The effect of evaporation on newly placed concrete is discussed along with methods to prevent it.

The course continues with a clear discussion of reinforced concrete, stresses in a concrete beam, and reinforcing steel. The principles of pre-cast and post-tensioned beams are discussed with several representative cross sections presented. The course concludes with an introductory discussion of the principles of formwork design.

The course is not a design course but does offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the design criteria involved in the design of reinforced concrete beams and the design of formwork for vertical structures such as walls and columns.

127-Fundamentals of Steel - Part A

(4.6) 134 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Steel — Part A takes a look at steel in an informative and intuitive way — using among other things, a story of a yardstick as a teaching tool. After a brief history of steel in the U. S., and an introduction to the most influential and dominant codes, the manufacturing process of steel is presented. This is followed by a discussion of the most important mechanical properties — and the factors affecting them — of steel including easy-to-understand drawings. Then the various shapes are presented and discussed with clear and easy to follow diagrams. One of the many topics presented is a discussion of how a single nominal sized beam can have the largest member of its class be over 160% times larger than the smallest.

Photos relating to the topics presented include the John Hancock Building in Chicago.

The course is not a design course. It does however offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the material properties and the design criteria for steel members.

Fundamentals of Steel — Part B, a companion course, continues on with a look at how the shapes are used in the field with an emphasis on connections — both welded and bolted. Bar joists are discussed. Some of the very serious weaknesses of structural steel are discussed including methods of protecting against these weaknesses.

128-Fundamentals of Steel - Part B

(4.8) 118 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Steel — Part B takes a look at steel in an informative and intuitive way — using among other things, a story of a pop can as a teaching tool. This course will look at how the shapes are used in the field with an emphasis on connections — both bolted and welded. Bar joists — perhaps the most common built-up member — are discussed. Structural carbon steel has some serious weaknesses. These are also discussed including methods of protecting against these weaknesses.

Connections — both welds and high strength bolts — are discussed. The concepts behind their function and simple sample problems are presented to demonstrate the very complex workings of steel connections.

Photos relating to the topics presented include the John Hancock Building in Chicago, the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and the Mackinac Bridge over the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, as well as others.

The course is not a design course. But it does offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the criteria involved in the design of high strength bolted and welded steel connections.

Fundamentals of Steel — Part A is not required as a pre-requisite to this course. It would however be helpful to understand the basic principles of the most important mechanical properties of steel as well as the common nomenclature associated with steel as presented in Part A of this series.

203-What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part A - Statics Fundamentals

(4.8) 201 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the course What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures Part A — Statics Fundamentals focuses on presenting simplified methods of calculations, and the presentation of intuitive methods for the understanding and solving of basic statics problems. Statics is fundamental to the field of engineering mechanics — including structural analysis and design. Included among the many topics covered are loads and forces on members; how to deal with uniformly varying distributed loads; solving equilibrium equations using an intuitive and simple method where up equals down and left equals right; and simplifying assumptions to determine the forces necessary to keep an extension ladder from sliding down a wall. Many example problems are worked with simple and easy to understand diagrams. Newton's three laws of motion are presented and reduced to two for use in statics.

This course is not a design course. However the methods and techniques presented can be used to determine the forces in many common structures including storage shelves in the garage, the support forces of an NFL player's bench, and drifting snow loads on a porch roof.

Anyone who has taken high school trig and algebra can complete this course.

What Every Engineer should Know About Structures Part B — Statics Applications, the second in a series, continues on with a look at how the fundamentals are applied to solving real-life statics problems. Included are sections on reactions; friction; forces in truss members; forces in cables used to support traffic lights hanging over intersections; and the huge mechanical advantages gained by using pulleys and sheaves.

Basic Trigonometry, Significant Figures, and Rounding — A Quick Review is a zero credit course intended for those who might find themselves a bit rusty and would like a quick refresher. The information in the course is useful for application to the solution of structural problems especially in the fields of statics and strength of materials.

This course is free and can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

400-Basic Trigonometry, Significant Figures, and Rounding

The trigonometry review includes demonstrating - through the use of several example problems — the use of the basic trigonometric functions including: the sine, cosine and tangent and their inverse; the Pythagorean Theorem; the Sum of the Angles; the Law of Sines; and the Law of Cosines. The significant figures and rounding review includes a discussion of the precision and validity of an answer, along with rules and guidelines for using the appropriate number of significant figures, and for rounding answers appropriately.

207-What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part B - Statics Applications

(4.8) 119 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the course What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures Part B — Statics Applications is a logical extension of the previous course in the series, What Every Engineer should Know About Structures Part A — Statics Fundamentals.

Where the first course in the series, "Part A — Statics Fundamentals", presented the fundamental principles of statics including nomenclature, definitions, Newton's Laws, and procedural methods, this course, "Part B — Statics Applications", applies the principles learned to real-life problems.

The course is divided into five sections. Included are sections on calculating reactions for beams, trusses, and frames; determining forces in truss members; calculating the different forces is a single cable supporting point and distributed loads; presenting the basics of friction; and understanding the principles of sheaves and pulleys.

Statics is fundamental to the field of engineering mechanics — including structural analysis and design. Included among the many topics covered are discussions of the uncertainties of design loads, why utility linemen are careful to sight along a line when making a final hook-up, and why simplifications in stating a statics problem is an acceptable and common practice. Many example problems are worked with simple and easy to understand diagrams and calculations.

This course is not a design course. However the methods and techniques presented can be used to determine the forces in many common structures including metal building frames, traffic light suspension cables, and multi-line hoisting systems, as well as to determine the minimum lean angle of an extension ladder as limited by friction.

Anyone who has completed the first course in this series can complete this course.

This course is free and can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

400-Basic Trigonometry, Significant Figures, and Rounding

261-What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part C - Axial Strength of Materials

(4.8) 94 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the courseWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part C — Axial Strength of Materials is the third course in the series of courses in the field of study called engineering mechanics. This course focuses on presenting simplified methods of calculations, and the presentation of intuitive methods for the understanding and solving of basic problems. The course contains 18 solved example problems to illustrate the principles discussed.

This Course Includes:

stress and strain in a member, and their relationship, including material properties such as Hooke's Law and modulus of elasticity;
axial loads in tension and compression, including deformation;
shear stresses, including shear modulus of elasticity, single and double shear, and punching shear;
design stresses and factors of safety;
temperature deformation and thermal stresses, and;
cross sectional properties of structural members including determining the centroid of a cross section.

The first two courses in the series, calledStatics, focused on solving problems related to the exterior (or externally) applied loads on a stationary body - a body at rest. It is expected that you have a good background in the study of Statics. If you are not familiar with statics, consider taking the two SunCam courses titledWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures Part A — Statics Fundamentals andWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures Part B — Statics Applications.

This course is free and can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

400-Basic Trigonometry, Significant Figures, and Rounding

274-What Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part D - Bending Strength Of Materials

(4.9) 66 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Written in an easy to understand style, the courseWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part D - Bending Strength of Materials is the fourth course in the series of courses in the field of study called engineering mechanics. This course focuses on presenting intuitive methods for the understanding of basic principles of forces and stresses in beams. And solutions to basic problems with simplified methods of calculations. The course contains 19 solved example problems and additional drawings to illustrate the principles discussed.

Part D Includes:

Cross sectional properties of structural members including defining and determining the Moment of Inertia and Section Modulus of a cross section.
Torsional stresses and deformations of rods and shafts.
Shear and bending moment diagrams of beams.
Bending stresses in loaded beams.
Shear stresses in loaded beams.

The first two courses in the series, titledWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part A — Statics Fundamentals andWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part B — Statics Applications focused on solving problems related to the exterior (or externally) applied loads on a stationary body - a body at rest. The third course in the series, titledWhat Every Engineer Should Know About Structures - Part C — Axial Strength of Materials, focuses on what happens inside a structural member, including stresses and strains, axial deformation, factors of safety, thermal deformations, and properties of cross sectional areas.

It is expected that you have a good background in the material covered in the three previous courses. If you do not, consider taking the three SunCam courses for Part A, Part B, and Part C.

This course is free and can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

400-Basic Trigonometry, Significant Figures, and Rounding

352-Fundamentals of Masonry Part A

(4.8) 74 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Masonry construction has been practiced for thousands of years beginning with the ancient Greeks and the Romans. The "language" of the craft has been developed over this time. Today we use words that clearly identify pieces and parts of the industry that can bewilder or confound those unfamiliar with them — words such as wythe, shiner, and grapevine.

Masonry construction has exploded during the last century and a half due in large part to advances in manufacturing technology. For example, in the early years of manufacturing, each concrete block was made by hand — about 10 blocks per hour per man. Today, with modern machinery, production can be as high as 2,000 blocks per hour. And, each year around 4-billion concrete blocks are manufactured — enough to build about 3.5 billion square feet of wall. Up until about 150 years ago, clay bricks were made individually and by hand. Today, with modern machinery and kilns, about 50-billion clay bricks are manufactured each year — enough to build about 7.5 billion square feet of wall.

This two course series was created to provide fundamental knowledge about masonry construction for the engineer, contractor, architect, and anyone else who is interested in having a basic understanding of the topic.

419-Fundamentals of Masonry Part B

(4.9) 15 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

The science of masonry construction is extensive, thorough, and is the foundation of the profession. But there is an artistic component bounded only by the imagination of the designer and the skilled mason.

Masonry construction has been practiced for thousands of years beginning with the ancient Greeks and the Romans. The “language” of the craft developed over this time. Today we use words that clearly identify pieces and parts of the industry that can bewilder or confound those unfamiliar with them – words such as collar joint, sash block, and Jack arch.

This three course series provides fundamental knowledge about masonry construction for the engineer, architect, contractor, and anyone else who is interested in having a basic understanding of the topic.

Fundamentals of Masonry – Part A explained and simplified the terminology and the fundamental principles of masonry and masonry construction including the nomenclature and history of the subject, and an introduction to the basic principles of wall construction.

Fundamentals of Masonry – Part B continues the discussion of masonry including design and reinforced masonry, some structural elements such as bond beams, lintels, pilasters, and arches and concludes with a section titled “What can go wrong?” with an example of the severe consequences of ignoring the design and construction principles of masonry.

It is fully illustrated with drawings and color photographs and is written in an easy to understand style.

Coming soon Fundamentals of Masonry – Part C will discuss additional masonry units including stone and glass, the anatomy of a clay brick street, efflorescence, and additional fascinating (actually, disheartening) damages resulting from sloppy and incorrect masonry construction practices.

Future Courses by Professor Patrick L. Glon, PE (retired)

Fundamentals of Masonry Part C
Fundamentals of Wood
Fundamentals of HVAC
Fundamentals of Soils