REACTIONS, INDETERMINACY AND
STABILITY
CONCEPT OF RIGIDITIES AND
STIFFNESS OF STRUCTURAL
MEMBERS
Types of Supports and Reactions;
Degrees of Static Determinacy, Indeterminacy, Stability
Degrees of Freedom of Joint Translation and Rotation;
Conditions of Instability, Stability, and Redundancy of Structures
Axial, Shear, Torsional, Flexural
EQUILIBRIUM OF STRUCTURES
A structure is considered to be in equilibrium if,
initially at rest, it remains at rest when subjected to
a system of forces and couples. If a structure is in
equilibrium, then all its members and parts are also
in equilibrium.
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FORCES
External forces are the actions of other bodies on the structure under
consideration.
Applied forces, usually referred to as loads (e.g., live loads and wind
loads), have a tendency to move the structure and are usually known in
the analysis.
Reaction forces, or reactions, are the forces exerted by supports on the
structure and have a tendency to prevent its motion and keep it in
equilibrium.
Internal forces are the forces and couples exerted on a member
or portion of the structure by the rest of the structure. These
forces develop within the structure and hold the various portions
of it together. The internal forces always occur in equal but
opposite pairs, because each member or portion exerts back on
the rest of the structure the same forces acting upon it but in
opposite directions, according to Newton’s third law. Because the
internal forces cancel each other, they do not appear in the
equations of equilibrium of the entire structure.
TYPES OF SUPPORTS FOR PLANE
STRUCTURES
The loads tend to move the structures; but supports prevent
the movements by exerting opposing forces, or reactions,
to neutralize the effects of loads, thereby keeping the
structures in equilibrium.
STATIC DETERMINACY, INDETERMINACY AND
INSTABILITY
A structure is considered to be internally stable, or rigid, if it
maintains its shape and remains a rigid body when detached from
the supports. Conversely, a structure is termed internally unstable
(or nonrigid) if it cannot maintain its shape and may undergo large
displacements under small disturbances when not supported
externally.
An internally stable structure is considered to be statically
determinate externally if all its support reactions can be
determined by solving the equations of equilibrium.
EXAMPLES OF
STATICALLY
DETERMINATE
STRUCTURES
If a structure is supported by more than three reactions, then all
the reactions cannot be determined from the three equations of
equilibrium. Such structures are termed statically indeterminate
externally.
DEGREE OF EXTERNAL INDETERMINACY
The reactions in excess of those necessary for
equilibrium are called external redundants, and the
number of external redundants is referred to as the
degree of external indeterminacy.
�� = � − 3
If a structure is supported by fewer than three support
reactions, the reactions are not sufficient to prevent all
possible movements of the structure in its plane. Such a
structure cannot remain in equilibrium under a general
system of loads and is, therefore, referred to as statically
unstable externally.
A structure may be
supported by a sufficient
number of reactions but
may still be unstable due
to improper arrangement
of supports. Such
structures are referred to
as geometrically unstable
externally.
STATIC DETERMINACY OF INTERNALLY UNSTABLE
STRUCTURES—EQUATIONS OF CONDITION
The reaction which would have been sufficient to
fully constrain an internally stable or rigid structure,
are not sufficient for this structure. The structure can,
however, be made externally stable by replacing the
roller support at A by a hinged support to prevent
the horizontal movement of end A of the structure.
Thus the minimum number of external reactions
required to fully constrain the structure shown is four.
�� = (� + �� ) − 3��
fi = number of internal forces
nr = number of rigid members
The simplest internally stable (or rigid) plane truss can be
formed by connecting three members at their ends by
hinges to form a triangle. This triangular truss is called the
basic truss element.
Internal Stability of Trusses
We consider a truss to be statically determinate if the forces in all its
members, as well as all the external reactions, can be determined by
using the equations of equilibrium.
EXAMPLE NO. 1:
Classify each of the structures shown in as externally
unstable, statically determinate, or statically indeterminate.
If the structure is statically indeterminate externally, then
determine the degree of external indeterminacy.
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES:
3.