Structural Analysis Lecture 2

LECTURE 2
Structures and Forms

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Lecture Objectives

 Structural connections
 Structural modelling
 Task of idealisation
 Structural components and forms
 Load path and tributary area
 Determinacy and stability
 Terminology and definitions

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural connections

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural connections
Structural members are joined together based on the design
purpose.

If the support prevents a translational or rotational movement (a

degree of freedom), it will develop a force/moment. The
magnitude of this force/moment is unknown.

Note the definition of “degree of freedom”. So, how many degrees of freedom
can you imagine for a point in the space???
z z

y y

x
three dimensional two dimensional
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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural connections

Roller supports: some translational

movements and (slight) rotations allowed.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural connections

Pin connections: restrained against

translational movements, but (slight)
rotations allowed.

The space between the beam and column is (should be)

sufficient to accommodate the angle of rotation.
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Structural connections

Fixed joints: no relative rotation between

the members connected.

You may need to quickly

revise the concepts of
bending moment (from
either Engineering
Mechanics or
Mechanics of Solids).

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural modelling

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

Every model is an approximation to the actual structure, e.g.

fixed supports are never perfectly rigid, or pin supports always
have some resistance to rotations (coming from friction and
material behaviour), point loads are distributed over a small
area and are not perfectly point loads, the magnitude of loads
(and sometimes even their direction) can not be precisely
determined, etc.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

A structural model should be:

 Simple enough to facilitate mathematical analysis
 Complex enough to represent the actual behaviour with reasonable
accuracy.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

We idealise and depict connections as shown on the following slides.

Pin Roller
Fixed

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

Since the cross section of

a structural component is
small compared to its
length, we usually draw
them as a line.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

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Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

Note that dimensions are centreline to centreline.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling

Task of
Idealisation:

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Structural Modelling
Task of Idealisation:

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural components and forms

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural components

Beams:
Structural members supporting loads which are applied perpendicular to
their longitudinal axis used in floors of a building, decks of a bridge, wings
of an airplane, boom of a crane, or bones of the body. Cross section may
be constant or may be larger where more strength is required (tapered
beams).

denoted by “y” or “z”

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural components

Beams:

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural components

Columns: usually vertical and under compressive

forces.

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Structural components
Cables: used to transmit large tensile forces in lifts,
towers, membrane structures, bridges, etc.
- made of “strands” which in turn are made of “wires”;
- cannot resist compression;
- little resistance to bending.

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Structural components

Slabs:
Flat plate

Flat slab

Beam and slab Band-beam and slab

Ribbed (waffle) slab
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Structural forms

Trusses: composed of slender

members under axial forces only.

- loads are applied at joints only;

-depth is not an important criterion
for design;
-arranged in triangular fashion;
- resist bending in the form of
compression and tension in
members;
-less material compared to beams,
but more fabrication work required.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural forms
Trusses: truss members are joined together at their end
points by bolts or welds (to a common plate called a gusset
plate).

Note that (the centreline of) all the members

must meet at the same point, otherwise there
will be eccentricity which causes undesired
moments.
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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Structural forms
Trusses:
- Planar trusses: structure, loads and displacements in the
same plane.
- Space trusses

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Structural forms

Arches: work in compression and have a reverse curvature;

used in roofs, bridges and openings in masonry.

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Structural forms

Moment resisting frames: are composed of beams and columns, fixed

connected (there might be some pin connections as well). Bending, shear and axial
forces develop in a frame member depending on the loading condition.

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Structural forms
Moment resisting frames:

Note that transverse lateral loads on the bridge

are resisted by the two-storey frame.
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Structural forms

Braced frames: Lateral forces are resisted by a (vertical) steel truss

system with members acting in tension or compression. Bracing
members may be around a service core or in external walls. Resistance
must be provided in both directions (maybe braced frame in one
direction and resisting frame in the other).

Plan
Elevation

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Structural forms

Braced frames:

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Structural forms

Shear walls: reinforced concrete walls which are used to resist lateral
loads (wind and earthquakes).

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Structural forms

Shear walls
Similar to bracings, shear walls may be around a service core or
external walls.

Elevation Plan
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Structural forms
Surface structures: small thickness, sometimes flexible like a tent and in
tension which is called a membrane; sometimes made of rigid materials and
referred to as thin plates or shells (tensile, compressive and flexural actions); hard
to analyse due to three dimensional geometry.

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Load path and tributary area

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Load Path

1. Floor boards to joists

Internal actions in the floor boards:
transverse shear and bending;

2. Joists to trusses
Internal actions in the joists: transverse
shear and bending;

3. Trusses to columns
Internal actions in the trusses: axial
(tensile or compressive) forces;

4. Columns to footings
Internal actions in columns: axial forces

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Tributary area and slab classification:

A thin planar horizontal flexural structural member which transmits vertical loads by
bending action to its supports.
One-way slabs: bending moments in one direction

One-way vs two-way: Δ=1.0

Two-way slabs: bending moments of comparable magnitudes

in two directions
Δ=0.3

How can we tell if it’s a two way or one-way slab?!

Usually if “the longest span/shortest span”>2, it behaves as a one-way slab
and the load is carried out on the shorter span (see the examples on the
following slides).
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Tributary area

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Tributary area

• The floor of a classroom is to be

supported by bar joists as shown.
Each joist is 4.5 m long and they are
spaced 0.75 m on centers. The floor
itself is to be made from lightweight
concrete that is 100 mm thick.
Neglect the weight of the joists and
the corrugated metal deck, and
determine the load that acts along
each joist. Take the unit weight of
lightweight concrete 15.0 kN/m3.

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Tributary area
Dead load, weight of concreteslab
 (0.100)(15.0)
 1.50 kN/m2
Live load  3.0 kN/m2
Total load  1.50  3.0  4.5 kN/m2
L1  0.75 m, L2  4.5 m
L2 / L1  2  1 - way slab
Uniform load along its length, w
 4.5 kN/m2 (0.75 m)  3.4 kN/m
reaction at each end  (3.4 kN/m) (4.5/2 m)  7.6 kN
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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Tributary area

Here L1/L2=1

Tributary area for beam AB

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Tributary area, if AB was 15’ instead of 10’:

Tributary area for beam AB

Tributary area
for beam AC

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Determinacy and stability

Statically determinate versus statically indeterminate structures: if
all the forces in a structure can be determined from the equations
of equilibrium the structure is referred to as statically determined;
if there are more unknown forces then the structure is statically
indeterminate.

If the structure is indeterminate, we need compatibility equations,

which are based on geometric or physical properties of the
structure.

Equations of equilibrium?

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

First let’s recall how we apply such equations:
The general form of the equations of equilibrium:
y

F 0
x
M  0

Equations of equilibrium for a two dimensional structure in “xy” plane:

   Fx  0
   Fy  0
  M A  0 “A” can be any point on the plane.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

How to determine the determinacy of a structure?

General procedure:
One of the methods is to draw the free body diagrams of all
members and compare the total number of available equations
(which is three for each part) with the total number of unknown
forces/moments.

r=3n, statically determinate

r>3n, statically indeterminate

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Determinacy and stability

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Determinacy and stability

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

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Determinacy and stability

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

Frame structures

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

Determinacy of frames, we can use the method of sections.

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Determinacy and stability

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Determinacy and stability

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2

Determinacy and stability

How to determine if a structure is stable?

This requires a thorough inspection of the structure. In fact, to ensure
equilibrium of a structure or its members:

 They must satisfy equations of equilibrium

 Members must be properly held or constrained by their
supports

r<3n, unstable

r≥3n, unstable if reactions are concurrent or parallel, or some of

the components form a collapsible mechanism.

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Determinacy and stability

Partial constraints
• Fewer reactive forces than equations of
equilibrium

•  Fx  0 will not be satisfied

• Member is unstable

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Determinacy and stability

Improper constraints
• In some cases, unknown forces may equal equations of
equilibrium in number, however, instability or movement of
structure could still occur if support reactions are concurrent at a
point.

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Determinacy and stability

Improper constraints

• Similarly instability can occur if all reactive forces are parallel.

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Determinacy and stability

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Determinacy and stability

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Terminology and definitions

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Planar Structures versus Space Structures: no structure is really

planar; however, some of structural components can be treated as
plane problems, i.e. the structure (beam, truss, frame), loads and
deflections are in the same plane.

However, in some structures such as domes and towers, the stresses

are interrelated such that they cannot be simplified to a coplanar
structure and must be considered as a space structure (three
dimensional).

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Linear versus nonlinear structures: linear structure means that a

linear relationship is assumed to exist between the applied loads
and the resulting displacements, so:
-The material must be elastic and obey Hook’s law.
-And the change in geometry of the structure must be so small
so that they can be neglected when the stresses are calculated.

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Static versus dynamic analysis: ordinary structures are usually

designed under static loads. The dynamic effect of some of live
loads such as trucks or cranes is also considered by magnifying the
load and hence treated as static.

Dynamic analysis is when we consider the dynamic effect of

accelerated loads in the analysis and account for inertial forces.

All the analyses in this class are static.

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Force method versus displacement method of analysis: in the force

method we treat forces as the basic unknowns and express
displacements in terms of forces; in displacement method we
regard the displacements as the fundamental unknowns and forces
are expressed in terms of displacements.

In matrix analysis of linear structures, the force method is referred

to as flexibility method and the displacement method is known as
stiffness method.

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Acknowledgement
Some of the figures of lecture 1 and 2 have been reproduced from the handouts by
Prof Emad Gad of Swinburne University of Technology.

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Structural Analysis Lecture 2
Thank you!

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