Structural Engineering

Structural engineering is the field of civil engineering particularly concerned

with the design of load-bearing structures. In practice, it is largely the

implementation of mechanics to the design of structures, such as buildings,

bridges, walls (including retaining walls), dams, tunnels, etc.

Structural engineers need to design structures so that while serving their

useful function, they do not collapse, and do not bend, twist, or vibrate in

undesirable ways. In addition they are responsible for making efficient use of funds

and material to achieve these structural goals. Typically, apprentice structural

engineers may design simple beams, columns, and floors of a new building,
including calculating the loads on each member and the load capacity of various

building materials (steel, timber, and masonry, concrete). An experienced engineer

would tend to design more complex structures, such as multi-storey buildings

(including skyscrapers), or bridges.

Loads are generally classified as: "live load" such as the weight of occupants
and furniture in a building, the forces of wind or weights of water, and the forces

due to an earthquake; or "dead loads" such as the weight of the building itself.

Traditionally, structural engineering used careful placement of coordinate

axes to simplify complex equations associated with tensor quantities such as stress

and resulting displacements of structural elements, such as beams. This

simplification was essential to being able to solve problems. A successful engineer

must design a structure to withstand the loads specified to be placed upon it. As
long as the design loads are not exceeded the structure should spring back when

the load is lifted, or hold steady in definitely. The advance of computer software

has allowed many of the more complicated calculations to be carried out more

accurately and quickly.

One of the most straight forward mechanisms of analyzing structures is the

method of statics in which Newton's law of motion are used to determine the forces

acting of the components of a structure, generally by assuming that the material is

rigid and uniform.

Another mechanism capable of handling more complicated situations is the

finite element method which is capable of calculating forces in structures made of

various materials with differing properties.

I. Terminology
Mechanics (Latin mechanicus, from the Greek mechanikos, "one skilled in

machines") is a variety of specialized sciences pertaining to the functions and

routine operations of achiness, machine- like devices or objects. When preceded by

a qualifier. Mechanics refers to the study of empirically mechanical inactions of a

stated quantity or property.

A retaining wall is a structure to provide a barrier to downslope movement of soil,

rock or water. Retaining walls are generally made of masonry: stone, brick,

concrete or steel sheet piles. In recent years, railroad ties have been a popular

material for these walls.

A structural Engineer analyses and designs the gravity support and lateral force

resistance of buildings, bridges and other structures.

Structural engineering is the science and art of designing and making, with

economy and elegance, buildings, bridges, frameworks and ether similar structures

so that they can safely resist the forces to which they may be subjected.

A beam is a construction element in buildings. It serves as a support element for

transferring vertical, most often gravitational, forces to walls or pillars which in

turn transfers the force downwards. In contemporary construction it is primarily

constructed of steal. Many types of beams exist, and common ways to distinguish
between types are by profile, or the shape of a cross section of the beam. One of

the most common types of beam is the I-beam, commonly used for support in steel

frame buildings such as houses and bridges.

Timber is a term used to describe clusters of trees. It is also used to describe wood
throughout its processing from the time it is cut down to the time it is used as a

structural material.

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound

together by mortar. The common materials of masonry construction are brick

stone, concrete block, glass block, and tile. Masonry is a highly durable form of

construction because the materials used are not much affected by the elements. But
the quality of the matter and the pattern the units are laid in can strongly affect the

quality of the overall masonry construction.

Concrete is a composite building material made from the combination of

aggregate and cement binder. The most common form of concrete is Portland

cement concrete, which consists of mineral aggregate (generally gravel and sand),

portland cement and after. After mixing, the cement hydrates and eventually

hardens.

Skyscraper, the word skyscraper was originally nickname for a all mast on a

sailing shop. Today the word is used exclusively to refer to a tall habitable
building, usually higher than 152 meters 500 feet). Skyscrapers are also sometimes

referred to a skyscraper which is primarily used as residential building.

Earth quake is a trembling or shaking movement of the Earth's surface.

Earthquakes typically result from the movement of faults, quasi- planar zones o
deformation widely used to indicate the source region itself. The solid earth is in

slow but constant motion and earthquakes occur where the resulting stress exceeds

the capacity of Earth materials to support it. This condition is most often found at

(and the resulting frequent occurrence of earthquakes is used to define) the

boundaries of the tectonic plates into which the Earth's lithosphere can be divided.

Coordinate axes, Events that occur at plate boundaries are called

Cartesian is related to the French mathematician and philosopher Descartes, who,

among other things worked to merge algebra and Euclidean geometry. This work

was influential to development of3analytic geometry, calculus, and cartography.

Equation, in mathematics, one often (not quite always) distinguishes between an

identity, which is an assertion that two expression are equal regardless of the

values of any variables that occur within them, and an equation, which may be true

for only some (or none) of the values of any such variables. In equations, the

values of the variables for which the equation is true are called solutions.

Tensor, in mathematics, a tensor is a certain kind of geometrical entity which

generalizes the concepts of scalar, vector (spatial) and linear operator in a way that

is independent of and chosen frame of reference. Tensors are of importance in

physics and engineering. Tensors can be represented by array of components. The

point of having a tensor theory is to explain the further implication of saying that a
quantity is a tensor, beyond that specifying it requires a number of indexed

components.

Stress has different readings in different fields: In physics, stress is the internal

distribution of forces within a body that balance and react the loads applied to it.

Stress is a nine- dimension tensor that can be fully described with six dimensions.
Simplifying assumptions are often used to represent stress as a vector for

engineering calculations.

Computer software or simply software refers to one or more computer programs

and data in the storage of a computer for some purpose. Program software

performs the function of the program it implements either by directly providing

instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of

software. Data software exists solely for its eventual use by other program

software.

Statics is the branch of physics that is concerned with physical systems that are in
static equilibrium, that is, in a state where the relative positions of subsystems do

not vary over time, or where components and structures are at rest under the action

of external forces of equilibrium. When in static equilibrium, the system is either at

rest or moving at constant velocity through its center of mass.

Newton's laws of motion are the three scientific laws which Isaac Newton

discovered concerning the behavior of moving bodies. These laws are fundamental

to classical mechanics.

The finite element method (FEM), in numerical analysis, is used for solving

partial differential equations (PDE) approximately. Solutions are approximated by

either eliminating the differential equation completely (steady state problems), or

rendering the PDE into an equivalent ordinary differential equation, which in then

solved using standard techniques such as finite differences etc. Use of the finite

element method in engineering for the analysis of physical systems is commonly

known as finite element approximately salve integral equations such as the heat

transport equation.

II. Comprehension Questions

1. What is structural engineering?

2. Why do structural engineers need to design structured first?

3. What are the additional responsibilities of the structural engineers?

4. What are the tasks of the apprentice structural engineers?

5. What do the experienced engineers do?

6. What are live loads?

7. What are dead loads?

8. What must a successful structural engineer do?

9. What is the importance of the advance of computer software to engineering?

[Link] are the most straightforward mechanisms of analyzing structures?

[Link] is the finite element method capable of?

III. Define the following terms: mechanics, structural engineer, concrete,

tensor, earthquake, masonry, equations, software.