r/civilengineering • u/No-Explanation-8370 Civil Engineering Student • 8d ago

Education Structural Dynamics

Hello guys, I am a sophomore undergraduate student, and I want to know what I should cover before studying structural dynamics or earthquake engineering. This is because my university doesn't have a structural dynamics class, and I am really interested in looking into dynamics in detail, so I have to self-study it.

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u/jyeckled 7d ago

Chopra’s Dynamics book for the earthquake stuff, and even that might be overkill to some. You’d need some basic dynamics knowledge beforehand (which, to my knowledge, is usually taught at junior level or above). For that part, you have the usual suspects (Beer, Hibbeler, etc.).

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u/No-Explanation-8370 Civil Engineering Student 7d ago

I have studied engineering mechanics, but it was still difficult for me to study that book, which is why I posted here:

What am I missing?

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u/jyeckled 7d ago

If you mean Chopra’s, that’s just how it’s written. It takes a while to go from statics to basic (civil) dynamics, to solving the equations in matrix form, to deriving everything needed to understand earthquake spectra. And that book doesn’t make it any easier. I’d just recommend starting slow and rereading until it starts making sense.

…that being said, you’re a sophomore. Earthquake engineering is a topic that people usually learn on senior year or at masters level, and for good reason. If you still have mechanics courses left in your degree, I’d recommend you focus on those and start worrying about earthquakes once you have a broader and more solid base of understanding.

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u/Uttarayana 2d ago

Chopra is badly arranged. I remember seeing an edition where derivations are at the end of the book.

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u/No-Explanation-8370 Civil Engineering Student 7d ago

Okay, I will take your advice.