Chapter 11
Designing Structural Systems
Structural Systems
• Structure
– Is a body that supports a load and resists
external forces without changing its shape,
except for that due to the elasticity of the
material(s) used in construction
• Natural structure
– Human endoskeleton which gives the body
form, carries the load of the organs and other
internal parts, withstands external forces and
provides the ability to move
Examples of Natural and Technological
Structures-1
Solar powered spy plane inspired by a bat
Examples of Natural and Technological
Structures-2
Stealth bomber inspired by a hawk
Examples of Natural and Technological
Structures-3
Bullet train inspired by a kingfisher
Examples of Natural and Technological
Structures-4
Helicopter inspired by a dragonfly
Examples of Natural and Technological
Structures-5
Building in Zimbabwe inspired by termites regulates
its own temperature without air conditioning
Eiffel Tower
• Eiffel Tower was
designed by French civil
engineer Gustave Eiffel
(1832-1923) and was
completed in March
1889. It’s 320 meters tall
and stands on the
Champ de Mars beside
the River Seine in Paris,
France. It’s the tallest
structure in Paris.
Technological Structures
• Purposes of technological structures
– Provide housing
– Provide containment
– Transportation
• Structures must support loads caused by
internal and external forces
• Structures must not fail prematurely
Structural Failure
• All well-designed technological structures:
– Have a defined useful life
– Will fail at some point due to natural forces or
misuse
• Bridges
– 590,000 bridges in the National Bridge
Inventory
• Many are almost at their 50 year useful life
Structural Failure (cont’d.)
• Planned obsolescence
– Decision that a product will become obsolete
in a predefined time frame
– May be functional or aesthetic
• Durable goods
– Intended to last more than three years
• Nondurable goods
– Useful for less than three years
Structural Failure (cont’d.)
• Example of early structural
failure
– Tacoma Narrows Bridge
– Failed in 1940 due to resonant
oscillation caused by wind
– Today, oscillations are better
understood
– Bridge design rules have been
updated
Structural Failure (cont’d.)
• Causes of failure
– Something unexpected
– Poor design choice of materials, components,
or processes
– Expected external forces
– Overloading beyond the maximum rating
Safety Factor (S.F.)
• Determines how much a product or an
element within a product is overbuilt
• It’s usually determined early in the project
• S.F.= Ultimate stress (breaking point)/
working stress (maximum expected load)
• Safety factors should be greater than 1.0
• e.g. if the ultimate stress = 6000 kg and
working stress = 4000 kg, then S.F. = 1.5
Newtonian Mechanics
• Newton’s laws of motion
– Provide relationships between forces acting
on a body and the motion of the body
– Formulated by Sir Isaac Newton
– Published in 1687
Engineering Design Analysis
• The process of applying mathematical and
scientific understanding to a proposed design
solution to determine if there are any reasons
why the design will not function as expected
when it is prototyped or ultimately produces
• In addition to the science, of equal importance is
an understanding and correct application of all
necessary technological principles to a
successful design solution
Structural Loads and Forces
• Live loads
– Weight of all occupants in the building
– Weight of movable things
• Example: furniture
• Dead loads
– Weight of materials in the structure itself and
all major architectural or product features
Structural Loads and Forces
(cont’d.)
• Static loads
– Loads at rest (e.g. a person sitting quietly in a chair)
• Dynamic loads
– Characterized by forces in motion (e.g. a person in
the process of sitting down in a chair)
• All loads and natural forces (e.g. wind, water,
snow, seismic or tsunami) must be counteracted
by internal structural forces, otherwise the
structure will fail
Equilibrium
• When external forces are balanced by
internal forces
Stress
• Describes the quality or ability of a
material to distribute internal forces when
a load is applied
• Consistent with Newton’s third law, the
material must have the ability to provide
an equal but opposite force when a load is
applied
• Stress (σ) = Force (F)/Area (A)
• Units: MN/m2 or psi
Strain
• Describes the change in shape of a
material caused by compression or
tension forces
• Expressed as percentage change in
original length
• Strain (ϵ) = Change in length/Original
length
= ΔL/L
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity (E)
• Describes the stiffness of an elastic
material
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity Table
Common Forces
• Five forces to consider when designing
structures
– Compression
– Tension
– Bending
– Shear
– Torsion
Compression
• Is a force that
pushes against
something
Tension
• A load is applied to
the element in a
pulling action.
• When this occurs,
the element is said to
be in tension.
Bending
• Force applied
across the material
• Example: books
on a bookshelf
• Location of
supports is
important
Shear
• Compression
applied in opposite
directions across a
perpendicular plane
• Most fasteners such
as bolts, nails and
welds are under
shear force
Torsion
• Twisting force
• Force that tries to twist
or rotate the material
apart
• Also called torque is
most associated with
mechanical systems
such as motors,
engines
Structural Components
• Beams
– Horizontal structural components
– Primarily designed to resist
bending forces
– Must also resist shear and
torsion forces
• Engineered beams
– Reduced weight
– Increased strength
Bridge Structures
• Beam bridge
– Oldest type of bridge
– Not used for distances over
60 meters
– Must resist a bending force
Bridge Structures (cont’d.)
• Truss bridge
Bridge Structures (cont’d.)
• Truss bridge
– Must resist compression and
tension forces and is more
complex than beam bridge
– Design often employ a
cantilever structure member
that projects beyond its
support and is supported at
only one end
Bridge Structures (cont’d.)
• Arch bridge
– Has its roots in
Roman engineering
Bridge Structures (cont’d.)
• Suspension bridge
– Capable of spanning the greatest distance
Suspension Bridges
• Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan (world’s longest
suspension bridge: 3,911 meters)
Calculating Loads on Structures
• Simple testing of loads
– Use spring scale to estimate loads
• Physical modeling techniques
– A simple cardboard and string or rubber band model
can be used to determine which elements in a bridge
or a truss are under compression and tension
– Use cardboard for components under compression
– Use string/rubber band for components under tension
– If a string component collapses under load, the
component is under compression and must be
replaced with cardboard
Using Mathematics to Calculate
Loads
• Moment calculation
– Point load
• Weight of the material
– Can be estimated as uniform distributed load
• Vector analysis used to determine load
Using Graphical Analysis
• Vectors
– Lines that describe magnitude and direction of
applied force
• Bow’s notation
– Method of identifying forces within a structure
– Graphical method
– Accurate drawings made to scale
– See Pages 311-314 of the text