UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Module 3: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Introduction:
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural
systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their
work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic and environmental concerns, but they
may also consider aesthetic and social factors.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of module 3, you should have achieved the following topic learning outcomes:
1. Express a basic understanding of the Structural Engineering.
2. Familiarize with the practices of Structural Engineers in relation to their interaction with
society.
Topic 1: Objective of Structural Engineering
What does a Structural Engineer do?
Structural Engineering is a specialization or sub-discipline of Civil Engineering. Structural
Engineers design, plan, and oversee the construction of structures such as buildings and bridges
ensuring that they are safe and can withstand elements that they are exposed to.
Structural engineers are responsible for the detailed analysis and design of:
Architectural structures: Buildings, houses, factories. They must work in close
cooperation with an architect who will ultimately be responsible for the design.
Civil Infrastructures: Bridges, dams, pipelines, offshore structures. They work with
transportation, hydraulic, nuclear and other engineers. For those structures they play the
leading role.
Aerospace, Mechanical, Naval structures: aeroplanes, spacecrafts, cars, ships, submarines
to ensure the structural safety of those important structures.
Duties and Tasks:
Prepare reports, designs, or drawings needed for projects
Calculate pressures, loads, stresses, and strains of each component of the structure
Selecting appropriate construction materials considering strength
Examine structural risks and improve structural integrity
Monitoring and inspecting process of work by contractors and any other workers
involved
Inspecting conditions and foundation of properties
Technical Skills
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Computer aided design (CAD) software
Three-dimensional conceptual skills
Blueprint creation
Diagrammatic skills
Materials requirements, planning logistics, and supply chain software
Highly skilled in mathematics and physics
Other Skills/Requirements:
Material resources management - ensuring the appropriate use of materials, equipment,
and facilities to complete projects
Critical thinking - using logic to identify strengths and weaknesses of plans, explore
alternative solutions, and come up with different approaches to problems
Organizational, project management, planning skills
Good communications skills – written and verbal
Education
The education of structural engineers is usually through a civil engineering bachelor’s degree,
and often a master’s degree specializing in structural engineering.
The fundamental core subjects for structural engineering are:
Strength of materials or solid mechanics,
Structural Analysis -Static & Dynamic,
Material science and numerical analysis.
Reinforced concrete,
Composite structure,
Timber,
Masonry and
Structural steel designs
are the general structural design courses that will be introduced in the next level of the education
of structural engineering.
The structural analysis courses which include
Structural mechanics,
Structural dynamics and
Structural failure analysis
are designed to build up the fundamental analysis skills and theories for structural engineering
students. At the senior year level or in graduate programs, prestressed concrete design, space
frame design for building and aircraft, bridge engineering, civil and aerospace structure
rehabilitation and other advanced structural engineering specializations are usually introduced.
this module is for the exclusive use of the University of La Salette, Inc. Any form of
reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Structural Engineering Process
Determine types magnitudes of loads
Determine structural context
geometric and geological information
cost / schedule / height/ etc. limitations
Generate alternative structural systems
Analyze one or more alternatives
Select and perform detailed design
Implement (usually done by contractor)
Topic :2 Types of loads
Dead loads
Weight of the structure itself
- floors, beams, roofs, decks,
beams/stringers, superstructure
Loads that are “always there”
Live loads
People, furniture, equipment
Loads that may move or change
mass or weight
Minimum design loadings are
usually specified in the building
code
Dynamic loads (e.g., trains,
equipment)
Moving loads (e.g. traffic)
Impact loads
Gusts of wind
Loads due to cycling machinery
Wind loads
Earthquake loads
Structure loaded when base is
shaken
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Response of structure is dependent on the frequency of motion
When frequencies match with natural frequency of structure - resonance
Topic 3: Structural Elements and Systems
Structural Elements and Systems: All structural systems are composed of elements. The
following are considered to be the primary elements in a structure:
1. Ties: those members that are subjected to axial tension forces only. Load is applied to ties
only at the ends. Ties cannot resist flexural forces.
2. Struts: those members that are subjected to axial compression forces only. Like ties, struts
can be loaded only at their ends and cannot resist flexural forces.
3. Beams and Girders: those members that are primarily subjected to flexural forces. They
usually are thought of as being horizontal members that are primarily subjected to gravity
forces; but there are frequent exceptions (such as inclined rafters).
4. Columns: those members that are primarily subjected to axial compression forces. A column
may be subjected to flexural forces also. Columns usually are thought of as being vertical
members, but they may also be inclined.
5. Diaphragms: structural components that are flat plates. Diaphragms generally have very high
in-plane stiffness. They are commonly used for floors and shear resisting walls. Diaphragms
usually span between beams or columns. They may be stiffened with ribs to better resist out-
of-plane forces.
Structural components are assembled to form structural systems such as typical framed
structures. A building frame is shown in Figure 1. In this figure, a girder is considered to be a
large beam with smaller beams framing into it.
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Figure 1: Typical building frame
A truss is a special type of structural frame. It is composed entirely of struts and ties. That is to
say, all of its components are connected in such a manner that they are subjected only to axial
forces. All of the external loads acting on trusses are assumed to act at the joints and not directly
on the components, where they might cause bending in the truss members (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Truss Elements
There are other types of structural systems. These include fabric structures (e.g., tents and
outdoor arenas) and curved shell structures (e.g., dams or sports arenas).
Topic 5: Load paths in structures
Load Path
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Load Path is the term used to describe the path by which loads are transmitted to the
foundations
The path that a load travels through the structural system
Each structural element must be designed for all loads that pass through it
Every load applied to the building
will travel through the structural system until
it is transferred to the supporting soil
Different structures have different load paths
Load path in an Arch Load path of Eiffel Tower
Cable-stayed Suspension bridge load path
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Some structures have only one path
Some have several (redundancy good)
Summary:
Structural Engineering:
Identifies loads to be resisted
Identifies alternatives for providing load paths (arch, truss, frame, ...)
Designs structure to provide safe and economical load paths (material, size, connections)
To be economical and safe, we must be able to predict what forces are in structure.
Visit: [Link]
[Link]
Additional readings for this module
[Link]
National Structural Code of the Philippines 2015. Vol 1. Buildings, Towers, and other Vertical
Structures. ISBN 2094-5477
ACTIVITY
Activity #1
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Base on the gravity load path shown above, explain what is occurring at each of the labeled
points.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Activity #2
this module is for the exclusive use of the University of La Salette, Inc. Any form of
reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Base on the gravity load path of the one-way system shown above, explain what is occurring at
each of the labeled points.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
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reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited.
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UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Activity #3
Determine the type of load/s applied at each of the labeled points.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Activity #3
In the given figure on page 5 (Figure 2: Truss Elements) what are the part/s of the truss that are
under strut or tie.
TIE STRUT
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without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited. 0
UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
this module is for the exclusive use of the University of La Salette, Inc. Any form of
reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting online in any form or by any means
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without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited. 1