Introduction
Structural design is the process of ensuring that a structure is safe, durable, and capable of carrying loads without failure..
Working Stress Method (WSM)
• The Working Stress Method (WSM) is a traditional design approach that is
based on the concept of elastic behavior of materials.
• In this method, structures are designed by ensuring that the stresses in materials
do not exceed the permissible stress under working loads.
Principles of WSM
• Elastic Behavior: Materials are assumed to behave elastically, meaning that
stress is proportional to strain.
• Factor of Safety (FoS): The ultimate strength of the material is divided by a
safety factor to determine the permissible stress.
• Service Load Consideration: The structure is designed considering normal
working loads without explicitly addressing failure conditions.
• Simple and Conservative: This method is easy to apply but often results in
over-conservative designs.
Limitations of WSM
• Does not account for material behavior at ultimate loads.
• Overly conservative, leading to inefficient use of materials.
• Not suitable for modern high-rise structures and complex loading conditions.
Philosophy and Principle of Limit State Design (LSD)
The Limit State Design (LSD) is a modern design approach that ensures the
structure performs adequately during its lifetime, considering both ultimate safety and
serviceability requirements.
The philosophy of LSD is based on ensuring that a structure meets the following
conditions:
• Ultimate Limit State (ULS): The structure must be safe against collapse, including
excessive deformation, material failure, and instability.
• Serviceability Limit State (SLS): The structure must remain functional without
excessive deflections, vibrations, or cracking under normal use.
Principles of LSD
• Ensures safety under worst-case loading conditions.
• Balances safety, economy, and serviceability.
• Uses probabilistic concepts to account for variations in material strength and
loading.
Assumptions in Limit State Design
• The structure behaves in accordance with principles of engineering mechanics
and material behavior.
• The characteristic strength of materials and loads is used as the basis for design.
• Partial safety factors are applied to both loads and material strengths.
• The structure should satisfy both ultimate limit state (ULS) and serviceability
limit state (SLS) conditions.
• Material properties are based on statistical data with a certain probability of
exceedance.
Partial Safety Factors
Partial safety factors are applied separately to loads and materials to
ensure safety.
Partial Safety Factor for Loads (γf)
Different types of loads have different levels of uncertainty. Higher safety
factors are applied to loads with more variability.
1. Dead Load (γf = 1.5)
2. Live Load (γf = 1.5)
3. Wind Load (γf = 1.5)
4. Earthquake Load (γf = 1.5)
Partial Safety Factor for Materials (γm) Material strength is also reduced
to account for possible variations.
5. Concrete (γm = 1.5) Steel (γm = 1.15)
Characteristic Load and Strength
1. Characteristic Load: The load value that has a 95% probability of not being
exceeded during the structure’s life.
Example: If the characteristic live load is 5 kN/m², it means there is only a
5% chance that the actual load will exceed this value.
2. Characteristic Strength: The strength value of a material below which not
more than 5% of test results are expected to fall.
Example: If concrete has a characteristic strength of M25, it means that
only 5% of the tested samples will have a strength less than 25 MPa.