CH.

3 – STRUCTURAL FUNDAMENTALS

STATICS AND FORCES

Statics
• Statics: branch of mechanics that deals with bodies in a state of equilibrium
• Equilibrium: said to exist when resultant of any number of forces acting on a body is zero
• Fundamental principles of Equilibrium
- Sum of all vertical forces acting on a body must equal zero
- Sum of all horizontal forces acting on a body must equal zero
- Sum of all moments acting on a body must equal zero

Forces
• Force or Loads: any action applied to an object
• Internal structure must resist external load stresses with internal forces of their own equal in
magnitude and of opposite sign
• Vector quantity: direction and magnitude of force
• Direction: line with arrowhead
• Magnitude: establishing a scale
- 1” = 2000lbf…..2” line will have a force of 4000lbf, etc
• Line of action of a force is a line concurrent with the force vector
• Principle of transmissibility: force acting anywhere along the line of action can be considered
equal or unchanged as long as the direction and magnitude do not change
• Types of forces:
- Colinear forces: vectors lie along the same straight line
- Members subjected to collinear forces such as tension or compression are said to be
two-force members
- Concurrent forces: lines of action meeting at a common point
- Nonconcurrent forces: lines of action do not pass through a common point
- Coplanar forces: lines of action all lie within same plane
• Structural forces: any combination of the above
- Example: a truss is a collection of sets of concurrent coplanar forces while a space frame is a
combination of sets of concurrent noncoplanar forces

Stresses
• Stress: internal resistance to an external force
• Basic types:
- Tension
- Compression
- Shear
• Compression & tension the force acts perpendicular to area of the material resisting force
• Shear the force acts parallel to area resisting force
• Stress is expressed as force per unit area determined by dividing total force applied to the total area

f = P/A
 • Example 3.1: A balcony is partially supported from structure above by a steel rod with a 1 1/4” dia.
The load on the rod is 10,000lbf. What is the stress in the rod

Radius of the rod is

r = d/2
r = 1.25/s
r = .625”

the area of the rod is

A =
r2
A = 3.142(.625)2
A = 1.23in2

The stress is

f = P/A
f = 10000/1.23
f = 8130psi

• Torsion: type of shear where member is twisted

• Bending: combination of tension 7 compression
• Combined loads: example of when a column is resisting loads from above & lateral wind loads

Thermal Stress
• Nomenclature
- e Total deformation (strain)
-  coefficient of linear expansion
-  Change in temp
- T temperature
• When a material is subjected to change in temperature, it expands or contracts
• Unrestrained material, formula is

e = xT

• If restrained at both ends temperature causes an internal thermal stress which is:

F = ET

• Unit stress is independent of the cross sectional area of the member if there are no other loads
being applied while it is undergoing thermal stress

Strain and deformation

• Nomenclature
- A Area
- E Modulus of elasticity
- e Total deformation (strain)
- P Total force
- L Original length
-  Unit strain
• Strain: is the deformation of a material caused by external forces
- Ratio of total change in length of material to its original length

 = e/L

• Hooke’s law: deformation (strain) is directly proportional to the stress up to a certain point
- However at a certain point the material will begin to change length at a faster ratio than the
applied force called the elastic limit
- Yield point: point which material continues to deform with very little increase in load
 - Ultimate strength: If load increases still, material will rupture. unit stress just before rupture in
material.

• Modulus of elasticity (E): measure of a materials resistance to deformation or its stiffness

E – f/

Since stress was defined as total force divided by total area (f = P/A) and strain was
defined as total strain divided by original length
= e/L, the equation can be written as:

E = (P/A)/(e/L)
E = PL/Ae

This can also be used to find the total strain (deformation) of a material under a given
load by rearranging the values

e = PL/AE

• Example 3.2: If a load of 12,000lbf is applied to a 3’, 4x4 Douglas fir no.2 wood column, how much
will it compress? The modulus of elasticity for Douglas fir no2 is 1,700,000psi

Actual size is 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” or 12.25in2

e = PL/AE
e = [12000(3x12)]/(12.25 x 1,700,00)
e = .021in

• Representative values of E for various materials are shown in table below show how they vary with
material type. Actual values for E used in calculations to be derived from building codes

Moment
• Moment: tendency of a force to cause rotation about a point and is the product of the force times
the perpendicular distance to the point about which it is acting and is measured in foot-pounds,
inch-pounds or kip-pounds
• Two downward forces are balancing a lever on one pivot point. Even though forces are of unequal
value, they balance the lever because the distance from the pivot point results in equal moments
• If a force causes a clockwise rotation, moment is positive
• If a force causes counter clockwise rotation, moment is negative
• Example 3.3: Consider a simply supported beam with two concentrated loads at the locations
shown. Determine the reactions of the two supports.
 - Since two unknowns R1 & R2, select one of these as the pivot point about which to make
calculations. This eliminates one of the variables b/c the distance the force acts from the pivot
point is zero so the moment will be zero

R1 = (P1 x L) + (P2 x L) + (R2 x L)

+(15000 x 2’) + (8000 x 12’) – R2(17’)
+30000 + 96000 – R2(17’)
126,000– R2(17’) (solve for R ) 2

- 126,000 +126,000– R2(17’) = 0 - 126,000 +

- R2(17’) = -126,000
(1/17) R2(17’) = 126,000 (1/17) (negatives cancel out, Isolate R ) 2

R2 = 126,000/17
R2 = 7,411.76

- Since principles of equilibrium is that sum of all vertical forces equals zero, R1 & R2 (upward
forces) must equal the load (downward forces), therefore

R1 = 15000 + 8000 – 7142 = 15,558lbf

PROPERTIES OF SECTIONS

Centroid
• Center of gravity: point at which the mass of the body can be considered concentrated
• Centroid: point on a plane surface that corresponds to the center of gravity
- For symmetrical bodies, the centroid is located in the geometric center

Statical Moment
• To find centroid of unsymmetrical areas, statical moment must be used.
• Statical moment of a plane area with respect to an axis is the product of the area times the
perpendicular distance from the centroid of the area to the axis.
• If complex unsymmetrical area is divided into two or more simple parts the statical moment of the
entire area is equal to the sum of the statical moments of the parts
• Example 3.4: Locate the centroid of the area shown

- Select any convenient axis. In this instance use the X-X axis at the base
- Let x equal the distance from axis to centroid of the entire object.
- Divide the area into two sections each having its centroid in the geometric center of the
respective area
- The sum of the statical moments of the parts equals the statical moment of the entire section

Statical moment of volume ‘A’ Statical moment of volume ‘B’ Statical moment of Total .
(Dist to centroid from X-X) x (Area) + (Dist to centroid from X-X) x (Area) = (Dist to centroid from X-X) x (Area)
(9.5)(24) + (4)(16) = x(40)
 228 + 64 = 40x
(1/40) 292 = 40x (1/40)
292/40 = x
x = 7.3”

Moment of Inertia
• Moment of Inertia: a measure of bending stiffness of a structural members cross-sectional shape
(similar to how the modulus of elasticity is a measure of the stiffness of the material of a structural
member)
• Moment of inertia (I), about a certain axis of a section is the summation of all the infinitely small
areas of the section multiplied by the square of the distance from the axis to each of these areas
- Units: inches too the fourth power
- Use the neutral axis (axis passing thru centroid) as the axis of reference
- For rectangular sections the moment of inertia is

I = bd3/12

The moment of inertia about an axis thru the base of a rectangular section is

I = bd3/3

• Example 3.5: find the moment of inertia of a solid wood beam 6” wide x 13 1/2” deep

I = [(6)(13.5)3]/12
I = 1230in4

- To find the moment of inertia for composite areas, transfer moment of inertia of each section
about its centroid to a new axis, typically the centroid of the composite section

In – Ix + Ad2

- The transferred moments of inertia of the various sections are then added to get the moment of
inertia for the entire section

• Example 3.6: Using same composite section in Ex 3.4 calculate the moment of inertia

- Locate centroid of object

- Transfer the individual moments of inertia about this centroidal axis and add them
- It is helpful too set up a table so all the figures and calculations can be seen
- Moments of inertia of areas A & B are found with I = bd3/12 and are denoted as Io to express the
fact that these are the moments of inertia about an axis passing through the centroid of the
elementary figure
- d is the distance from the centroidal axis to the axes of areas A & B
- The calculations yield:

Area Io A d Ad2 Io + Ad2

A 18.00 24.00 2.200 116.2 134.2
B 85.33 16.00 3.300 174.3 259.6
Ix = 393.8in4
 • The moment of inertia is dependent on the area of a section and the distance of the area from the
neutral axis but from that statement the moment of inertia is the summation of the areas times that
square of the distances of those areas from the neutral axis
- From the equations I = bd3/12 & I = bd3/3, it is evident that a beams depth has a greater
bearing on the beams resistance to bending than its width or total area
- This explains why a board placed on edge between two supports is stronger than if on its side

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

Resultant Forces
• Resultant: when combined two or more concurrent forces into one force such that the one force
produces the same effect on a body as the concurrent forces
• If forces are colinear resultant is simply the sum of the forces
- Forces acting upward or to right are considered positive
- Forces acting downward or to the left are considered negative
• Concurrent forces (forces whose line of action pass through a common point) magnitude and
direction must be taken into account
- Consider forces shown (a) the resultant of these forces can be found graphically or algebraically

- To find, graphically:
- Draw the lines of force to any convenient scale, such as 1” equals 100lbf and in the
direction they are acting as shown in (b)
- Then draw a line parallel to each force starting with the head of the force vector to form
a parallelogram
- Connect the point of concurrence to the opposite corner of the parallelogram. This is
the resultant whose magnitude and direction can be found by scaling the length of it and
measuring its angle
- To find Algebraically:
- Sketch a force triangle as shown in (c)
- Since forces are in equilibrium, the triangle must close
- The resultant will then be the third side of the triangle
- Both the magnitude and direction can be solved with trigonometry using the law of
cosines and sines or Pythagorean theorem for a right triangle
- To solve for the magnitude of the resultant, use the law of cosines with the general form

c2 = a2 + b2 – 2ab cosC

- From fig (c)

R2 = (350)2 + (270)2 – (2)(350)(270) cos70°
R = 361.6 lbf

- To solve for the direction of the resultant, use the law of sines with the general form

(a/sinA) = (b/sinB) = (c/sinC)

F2/sin
= R/sin70°
sin
= [(F2sin70°)/R]
sin
= [(350sin70°)/361.6]

=65.4°
Components of a Force
• Just as a resultant can be found for two or more forces, so can a single force be resolved into two
components
• This method is required when analyzing loads on a sloped surface (roof) and have to find horizontal
and vertical reactions
• Example 3.7: what would be the vertical and horizontal reactions necessary to resist this force

- The reactions to the force would be equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the vertical
and horizontal components of the force
- To solve algebraically
- Construct a right triangle with 3000 lbf force as the hypotenuse and the legs of triangle
as the horizontal & vertical forces, then

sin35° = Fy/3000
Fy = 1721 lbf

cos35° = Fx/3000
Fx = 2457 lbf

- Three or more forces can be resolved by resolving each one into its horizontal and
vertical components, summing these components and then finding the resultant of the
horizontal and vertical components with the Pythagorean theorem

Free-body Diagram
• Free-body diagram: in analyzing structures, it is sometimes convenient to extract a portion and
represent forces acting on it with force vectors
• Consider the simple structure shown below (a) with a single load of 3000 lbf applied at the end. Find
the load in member BC

- Three forces acting on this member

- Vertical load of 3000 lbf
- Force in member BC (compression)
- Force through member AB (tension)
- Since these forces act through a common point & structure is in equilibrium, construct a force
triangle with force vectors as the sides of the triangle as shown in (c).
- The angle,
can be determined from tan
= 5/8 or 32°
- Then the force F in member BC will be

sin32° = 3000/F = 5661 lbf