STRUCTURAL THEORY

TYPES OF STRUCTURES AND LOADS

INTRODUCTION
A structure refers to a system of
connected parts used to support a
load. When designing a structure to
serve a specified function for
public use, the engineer must
account for its safety, aesthetics,
and serviceability, while taking
into consideration economic and
environmental constraints. Often
this requires several independent
studies of different solutions
before final judgment can be made
as to which structural form is most
appropriate. This design process is
both creative and technical and
requires a fundamental knowledge of
material properties and the laws of mechanics which govern material
response. Once a preliminary design of a structure is proposed, the
structure must then be analyzed to ensure that it has its required
stiffness and strength. To analyze a structure properly, certain
idealizations must be made as to how the members are supported and
connected together. The loadings are determined from codes and local
specifications, and the forces in the members and their displacement are
found using the theory of structural analysis. The result of this
analysis then can be used to redesign structure, accounting for a more
accurate determination of the weight of the members and their size.
Structural design, therefore, follows a series of successive
approximations in which every cycle requires a structural analysis.
CLASSIFICATION OF STRUCTURES
It is important for a structural engineer to recognize the various types
of elements composing a structure and to be able to classify structures
as to their form and function.

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS. Some of the more common elements from which

structures are composed are as follows:

TIE RODS
Structural members subjected to a
tensile force are often referred to as tie
rods or bracing struts. Due to the nature
of this load, these members are rather
slender, and are often chosen from rods,
bars, angles, or channels.

BEAMS
Beams are usually straight horizontal
members used primarily to carry vertical loads.
Quite often they are classified according to the
way they are supported (simply supported beam,
cantilevered beam, fixed-supported beam,
continuous beam). In particular, when the cross
section varies, the beam is referred to as
tapered or haunched. Beam cross sections may also
be “built up” by adding plates to their top and
bottom.

Beams are primarily designed to resist

bending moment; however, if they are short and carry
large loads, the internal shear force may become quite
large and this force may govern their design. When
the material used for a beam is a metal such as steel
or alumina, the cross section is most efficient when
it is shaped as shown in figure. Here the forces
developed in the top and bottom flanges of the beam
form the necessary couple used to resist the applied
moment M, whereas the web is effective in resisting
the applied shear V. This cross section is commonly
referred to as “wide flange,” and it is normally formed as a single unit
in a rolling mill in lengths up to 75 ft (23 m). If shorter lengths are
needed, a cross section having tapered flanges is sometimes selected.
When the beam is required to have a very large span and the loads applied
are rather large, the cross section may take the form of a plate girder.
This member is fabricated by using a large plate for the web and welding
or bolting plates to its ends for flanges. The girder is often
transported to the field in segments, and the segments are designed to
be spliced or joined together at points where the girder carries a small
internal moment.
Concrete beams generally have rectangular cross sections, since it
is easy to construct this form directly in the field. Because concrete
is rather weak in resisting tension, steel “reinforcing rods” are cast
into the beam within regions of the cross section subjected to tension.
Precast concrete beams or girders are fabricated at a shop or yard in
the same manner and then transported to the job site.
Beams made from timber may be sawn from a solid piece of wood or
laminated. Laminated beams are constructed from slid sections of wood,
which are fastened together using high-strength glues.

COLUMNS

Members that are generally vertical and resist

axial compressive loads are referred to as columns.
Tubes and wide-flange cross sections are often used
for metal columns, and circular and square cross
sections with reinforcing rods are used for those
made of concrete. Occasionally, columns are subjected
to both an axial load and a bending moment as shown
in the figure. These members are referred to as beam
columns.

TYPES OF STRUCTURES. The combination of structural elements and the

materials from which they are composed is referred to as a structural
system. Each system is constructed of one or more of four basic types
of structures. Ranked in order of complexity of their force analysis,
they are as follows:

TRUSSES
When the span of a structure is required to be large and its depth
is not an important criterion for design, a truss may be selected.
Trusses consist of slender elements, usually arranged in triangular
fashion. Planar Trusses are composed of members that lie in the same
plane and are frequently used for bridge and roof support, whereas Space
Trusses have members extending in three dimensions and are suitable for
derricks and towers.
Due to the geometric arrangement of its members, loads that cause
the entire truss to bend are converted into tensile or compressive forces
in the members. Because of this, one of the primary advantages of a
truss, compared to a beam, is that it uses less material to support a
given load.

CABLES AND ARCHES

Two other forms of sructures used to
span long distances are the cable and the
arch. Cables are usually flexible and
carry their loads in tension. They are
commonly used to support bridges, and
building roofs. When used for these
purposes, the cable has an advantage over
the beam and the truss, especially for
spans that are greater than 150 ft (46 m).
Because they are always in tension, cables
will not become unstable and suddenly
collapse, as may happen with beams or
trusses. Furthermore, the truss will require added costs for construction
and increased depth as the span increases. Use of cables, on the other
hand, is limited onl by their sag, weight, and methods of anchorage.
The arch achieves its strength in
compression, since it has a reverse
curvature to that of the cable. The arch
must be rigid, however, in order to
maintain its shape, and this results in
secondary loadings involving shear and
moment, which must be considered in its
design. Arches are frequently used in
bridge structure, dome roofs, and for
openings in masonry walls.
FRAMES
Frames are often used in
buildings and are composed of
beams and columns that are
either pin or fixed connected.
Like trusses, frames extend in
two or three dimensions. The
loading on a frame causes
bending of its members, and if
it has rigid joint connections,
this structure is generally
“indeterminate” from a
standpoint o analysis. The
strength of such a frame is
derived from the moment
interactions between the beams
and the colmns at the rigid
joints.

SURFACE STRUCTURES
A Surface structure is made from a material having very small
thickness compared to its other dimensions. Sometimes this material is
very flexible and can take the form of a tent or air-inflated strucure.
In both cases the material acts as a membrane that is subjected to pure
tension.
Some structures may also be made of rigid material such as
reinforced concrete. As such they may be shape as folded plates, cylinder,
or hyperbolic paraboloids, and are referred to as thin plates or shells.
These structures act like cables or arches since they support loads
primarily in tension or compression, with very little bending. In spite
of this, plate or shell strucures are generally very difficult to
analyze,due to the three-dimensional geometry of their surface.

The roof of the “Georgia Dome” in

Atlanta, Georgia can be considered
as a thin membrane.
LOADS
Once the dimensional requiremenys for a structure have been defined,
it becomes necessary to determine the loads the structure must support.
Often, it is the anicipation of the various loads that will be imposed
on the structure that provides the basic type of structure that will be
chosen for design. For examples, high-rise structures must endure large
lateral loadings caused by wind, and so shear walls and tubular frame
systems are selected, whereas buildings located in areas prone to
earthquakes must be designed having ductile frames and connections.
Once the structural form has been determined, the actual design
begins with those elements that are subjected to the primary loads the
structure is intended to carry, and proceeds in sequence to the various
supporting members until the foundation is reaced. Thus, a building floor
slab would be designed first, followed by the supporting beams, columns,
and last, the foundation footing. In order to design a structure, it is
therefore necessary to first specify the loads that act on it.
The design loading for a structure is often specified in codes. In
general, the structural engineer works with two typesof codes: general
building codes and design building codes. General building codes specify
the requirements of governmental bodies for minimum design loads n
structures and minimum standards for construction. Design codes provide
detailed technical standards and are used to establish the requirements
for the actual structural design. The following list are some of the
important codes used in practice:
• GENERAL BUILDING CODES
-Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE/SEI
7-10, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – International
Building Code
• DESIGN CODES
-Building Code Requirement for Reinforced Concrete, American
Concrete Institute (ACI)
-Manual of Steel Construction, American Institute of Steel
Construction (AISC)
-Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
-National Design Specification for Wood Construction, American
Forest and Paper Association (AFPA)
-Manual for Railway Engineering, American Railway Engineering
Association (AREA)
✓ IN THE PHILIPPINES
-National Building Code of the Philippines, Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH)
-National Structural Code of the Philippines, Association of
Structural Engineers of the Philppines (ASEP)
DEAD LOADS
Dead Loads consist of the weights of the various structural members
and the weights of any object that are permanently attached to the
structure. Hence, for a building, the dead loads include the weights of
the columns, beams, and girders, the floor slab, roofing, walls, windows,
plumbing, electrical fixtures, and other miscellaneous attachments.
In some cases, a structural dead load can be estimated
satisfactorily from simple formulas based n the weights and sizes of
similar structures. Through experience one can also derive a “feeling”
for the magnitude of these loadings.
The densities of typical materials used in construction are listed
in the code and a portion of a table listing the weights of typical
building components is given. Although calculation of dead loads based
on the use of tabulated data is rather straightforward, it should be
realized that in many respects these loads will have to be estimated in
initial phase design. These estimates include nonstructural materials
such as prefabricated façade panels, electrical and plumbing systems,
etc. Futhermore, even if the material is specified, the unit weights of
elements reported n codes may vary from those given by manufacturers,
and later use of the building may include some changes in dead loading.
As a result, estimates of dead loadings can be in error by 15% to 20%
or more.
Normally, the dead load is not large compared to the design load
for simple structures such as a beam or a single-storey frae; however,
for multistorey buildings it is important to have an accurate accounting
of all the dead loads in order to properly design the columns, especially
for the lower floors.

LIVE LOADS
Live loads can vary both in their magniude and location. They may
be caused by the weghts of objects temporarily placed on a structure,
moving vehicles, or natural forces. The minimum live loads specified in
codes are determined from studying the history of their effects on
existing structures. Usually, these loads include additional protection
against excessive deflection or sudden overload. In future discussons
we will develop techniques for specifying the proper location of live
loads on the structure so that they cause the greatest stress or
deflection of the members. Various types of live loads will now be
discussed.

BUILDING LOADS
The floors of buildings are assumed to be subjected to uniform
live loads, which depend on the purpose for which the building
is designed. These loadings are generally tabulated in local,
state, or national codes. A representative sample of such
minimum live loadings, taken from the NSCP 2015 Chapter 2 is
shown in Table 205-1 Minimum Uniform and Concentrated Live
Loads.
The values are determined from a history of loading various
buildings. They include some protection against the
possibility of overload due to emergency situations,
construction loads, and serviceability requirements due to
vibration. In addition to uniform loads, some codes specify
minimum concentrated live loads, caused by hand carts,
automobiles, etc., which must also be applied anywhere to the
 floor system. For example, both uniform and concentrated live
loads must be considered in the design of an automobile
parking deck.

HIGHWAY BRIDGE LOADS

The primary live loads on bridge spans are those due to
traffic, and the heaviest vehicle loading encountered is that
caused by a series of trucks. Specifications for truck
loadings on highway bridges are reported in the LRFD Bridge
Design Specifications of the American Association of State
and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

RAILROAD BRIDGE LOADS

The loadings on railroad bridges are specified in the
Specifications for Steel Railway Bridges published by the
American Railroad Engineers Association (AREA).

IMPACT LOADS
Moving vehicles may bounce or sidesway as they move over a
bridge, and therefore they impart an impact to the deck. The
percentage increase of the live loads due to impact is called
impact factor, I. This factor is generally obtained from
formulas developed from experimental evidence.

WIND LOADS
When the speed of the wind is very high, it can cause massive
damage to a structure. The reason is that the pressure created by the
wind is proportional to the square of the wind speed.
The destruction due to the wind is increased if the building hs an
opening, if the opening is at the front, then the pressure within the
building is increased and this intensifies the xternal suction on the
back, side wals, and the roof. If the opening is on a sie wall, then the
opposite effect occurs. Air wll be sucked out of the building, lowering
its inside pressure, and intensifying the pressure acting externally on
the front of the building.

For high-rise building, the wind loading can be quite complex, and
so these structures are often designed based on the behavior of a model
of the building, tested in a wind tunnel. When doing so, it is important
to consider the wind striking the structure from any direction.
The effects of lateral loadings developed by wind, can cause
racking, or leaning of a building frame. To resist this effect, engineers
often use cross bracing, knee or diagonal bracing, or shear walls.

SNOW LOADS
In some parts of the world, roof loading due to snow can be quite
severe, and therefore protection against
possible failure is of primary concern.
Design loadings typically depend on the
building’s general shape and roof
geometry, wind exposure, location, its
importance, and whether or not it is
heated. Like wind, snow loads in the ASCE
7-10 Standard are generally determined
from a zone map reporting 50-year
recurrence intervals of an extreme snow
depth.
EARTHQUAKE LOADS
Earthquakes produce lateral loadings on a structure through the
structure’s interaction with the ground.
The magnitude of an earthquake load
depends on the amount and type of ground
accelerations and the
mass and stiffness of
the structure. In
order to show how
earthquake loads
occur, consider the
simple structural
model in the figure.
This model may represent a single-storey building,
where the block is the “lumped” mass of the roof, and
the column has a total stiffness representing all the building’s columns.
During an earthquake, the ground vibrates both horizontally and
vertically. The horizontal accelerations create shear forces in the
column that put the block in sequential motion with the ground. If the
column is stiff and the block has a small mass, the period of vibration
of the block will be short and the block will accelerate with the same
motion as the ground and undergo only slight relative displacements. For
an actual structure that is designed to have large amounts of bracing
and stiff connections, this can be beneficial, since less stress is
developed in the members. On the other hand, if the column in the figure
is very flexible and the block has a large mass, then earthquake-induced
motion will cause small accelerations of the lock and large relative
displacements.
Some codes require that specific attention e given to earthquake
design, especially in areas of th country where strong earthquakes
predominate.

OTHER NATURAL LOADS

Several other types of live loads may also have to be considered
in the design of a structure, depending on its location or use. These
include the effect of blast, temperature changes, and differential
settlement of the foundation.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Whenever a structure is designed, it is important to give
consideration to both material and load uncertainties. These
uncertainties include a possible variability in mmaterial properties,
residual stress in materials, intended measurements being different from
fabricated sizes, loadings due to vibration or impact, and material
corrosion or decay.

ALLOWABLE STRESS DESIGN (ASD)

Allowable Stress Design (ASD) or Working Stress Design (WSD)
methods include both the material and load uncertainties into a single
factor of safety. The many types of loads discussed previously can occur
simultaneously on a structure but it is very unlikely that the maximum
of all these loads will occur at the same time. For example, both maximum
wind and earthquake loads normally do not act simultaneously on a
structure. For allowable-stress design the computed elastic stress in
the material must not exceed the allowable stress for each of various
load combinations.

LOAD AND RESISTANCE FACTOR DESIGN (LRFD)

Since uncertainty can be considered using probability theory, there
has been an increasing trend to separate material uncertainty from load
uncertainty. This method is called strength design or LRFD (Load and
Resistance Factor Design). For example, to account for the uncertainty
of loads, thismethod uses load factors applied to the loads or
combinations of loads. The combination of loads is thought to provide a
maximum, yet realistic loading on the structure.