What are the Basics of Structural Analysis?

To understand how structures work, a few basic concepts must be explained. A structure must be
designed to resist the likely forces it will encounter and not fail or deflect too much. The
common forces are snow load, wind load, earthquake load, dead load (the actual weight of the
structure itself) and live load (people or stored materials). The building code generally sets the
limits for those various design loads.
But the best place to begin an understanding of simple structural analysis isnt in the building
codes and the stipulated loads, but in knowing how simple structural elements work and fail.
An additional reference for understanding structural loads can be found in the US Department of
Defense Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) STRUCTURAL LOAD DATA (UFC 3-310-01 - 25
May 2005).
How Axial Force Crushes?
Columns and posts are defined as vertical structural elements. A column or post transfers load
from a roof or a floor down to a foundation. For a simple column, most of that load is an axial
force that transfers downward. That axial force (which may be caused by snow, dead and live
load) will be described in pounds or kips (thousands of pounds). Its easy to imagine a column,
say a wood 6 x 6 under a wood outside deck, with an axial load. That load puts the column in
compression. See Figure 3.1 Axial Forces.
How Tension Force Pulls?
A steel cable attached to a cable winch illustrates tension force quite well. As the cable winch is
tightened, the steel cable stretches tighter. The tension stress in the steel cable increases (and the
sag in the steel cable gets to be less and less). At the allowable tension design stress, say 30,000
psi (depending on the steel type) the cable will be fully loaded. If more tension force is applied
with the cable winch, at some higher stress level the steel yield strength will be reached and the
cable will snap.
How Shear Force Tears?
A beam carries load (usually horizontally) from floors and roofs to columns. A simple beam must
be designed to resist both shear and bending moments. Shear can be illustrated by tearing open a
potato chip bag. As your hands grip the bag and pull in opposite directions, the bag starts to tear
in a shear failure. To open the bag using tension, you would grip either end of the bag and pull
along a line, but in opposite directions. It would be quite difficult to open a potato chip bag using
tension, and the chips would fly all over the floor. On the other hand, trying to open that bag
using axial force (compression) would only smash the chips.
Shear stress in a beam goes to failure along a plane, perpendicular to the beam, in which the load
side of the beam displaces downward. See Figure 3.2 Shear for an illustration.

Its important to understand that shear failures tend to happen quickly, without much notice or
warning (i.e. not much movement, creaking, deflection, etc.). Therefore building codes tend to
require a higher factor of safety against shear failures when stipulating the allowable stresses.
How Bending Moment, well, Bend?
A simple beam that works to carry the shear stress must also be designed for the bending
moment. Think of a scaffold plank, a 2 x 10 piece of wood spanning 6. As you step onto the
middle of the scaffold plank, you notice some deflection downward. The scaffold plank is now
experiencing a bending moment. If you think about the actual plank directly under your feet, the
wood fibers on the bottom of the plank are in tension, they are being pulled apart as the plank
bends downward. The wood fibers on top of the scaffolding plank are in compression, they are
being pushed together.
You can visualize this effect by holding your right hand outstretched, palm facing upward. Take
the index finger of your left hand and poke down into the middle of your right palm. Cup your
right hand just a bit. Now you get a visual of a bending moment. The skin on the bottom of your
hand (around your knuckles) is in tensionthe skin is being stretched tight. The skin in your
palm, right near the applied load of your index finger, is in compressionthe skin is bunching
together. Figure 1.4 illustrates.

This concept of bending is important to understand. The scaffold plank acts as a beam, which is
under load and is resisting the bending moment. Consider the cross section of the beam (i.e. the
scaffold plank) at the point of load (where you are standing). When a structural element is being
loaded in bending, the deflection, even if only a small amount, causes tension in the lowest fibers
of the beam and compression in the top fibers. The failure due to bending moment occurs as the
beam deflects and either the bottom fibers pull apart and fail in tension or the top fibers crush
and fail in compression. This is illustrated in Figure 1.3 Bending Moment.
The shape of a steel I beam follows from this understanding of bending moments. Since the
extreme stress in tension is at the bottom of the member and the extreme stress in compression is
at the top of the member, a regular rectangular shape would have most of its area under low
stress. Only the very top and very bottom would be under maximum stress. Figure 1.5 shows
how a rectangular shape and an I beam might be stressed. Obviously, since the steel rectangle
beam weighs 97 lbs/foot and the W12x45 I beam weighs 45 lbs/foot, the steel I beam is
much more efficient to use.
How Torsion Twists?
Though not as common in most structural elements as axial and tension forces, shear and
bending moments, torsion should also be understood. A lintel above a doorway acts as a good
illustration for torsion. Say the lintel is a steel beam with concrete block laid directly on top of
the beam. That steel beam, then, must be designed for shear and bending moment, but it has no
torsion. All the load is coming down directly on top of the steel beam and transferring directly
down through the concrete block walls on either side of the door.
If the steel beam has a steel plate welded onto the bottom that sticks out 6 to carry a wythe
of brick off to the side, as well as the concrete block directly overhead, then that beam will see
torsion. The force from the brick will try to twist that steel beam. That force is torsion and it must
be considered whenever a load is applied off to one side of the center of the member.
What are the 3 Basic Types of Connections?
Beams, columns, joists and trusses all connect, both to each other and eventually to some type of
foundation. On a construction site, these structural elements get connected in many different
ways: a wood beam bolts to a steel girder, a steel joist welds to a steel beam, a steel beam is
buried into a massive concrete foundation. To simplify structural design and analysis, though, all
the many different types of connections are grouped in three basic categories: roller, pinned and
fixed.
The roller connection resists vertical forces only. Think of a steel beam sitting, on bolted, with 8
inches bearing on a 12 concrete wall. If a vertical force is applied to the steel beam, it will
resist, the beam cant move down through the wall. If a horizontal force is applied to the beam,
on the other hand, the beam can easily slide further onto the wall. If the other end of the beam is
lowered, the beam bearing on the concrete wall can easily pivot. Therefore, the roller connection
resists vertical loads, but not horizontal loads or moments, as shown in the figure below.

The pin connection resists both vertical and horizontal forces. The pin connection shown in the
figure above clearly illustrates how a beam could connect to a support. Both roller and pin
connections are called simple supports, because they dont resist moments.
Fixed supports, on the other hand, do resist moments. The figure above shows an example of a
steel beam with the bearing end buried in a concrete wall. Since their cant be any twisting or
moving of the steel beam that is buried in the concrete, that connection resists any moment.
Most connections in construction are assumed to be simple supports (roller and pin connections)
because the reality of getting a connection to resist a moment is challenging. A steel beam bolted
to a steel column with angle clips on either side (photo) is assumed to be a pinned connection,
even though a bit of moment resistance would occur. Similarly, almost any wood member nailed
or bolted to another wood member is likely to be a pinned connection because of the difficulty of
transferring moment through that connection.
Moment connection usually are clearly stipulated on sets of drawings and shown how to be
obtained. The photo shows the welded steel plate on the top and bottom flanges of the beam to
the column that transfers the moment. When connecting structural elements, you should consider
if the connection can be a simple support or needs to be a fixed (moment resisting) connection.

What is a Stable & Unstable Structure?

Many times temporary structures are built on a job site that are unstable and dangerous. Too
often the person building the temporary structure simply doesnt understand the importance of
including diagonal bracing or fixed supports to make the structure stable.
Make it a habit to look at structural systems and determine where their stability comes from. The
advanced level of understanding that will arise from paying attention to building structures will
help you to see problems before they cause failures. Whether building a cabinet or a large
building, the basics of structural design apply.
What Should I Know about Expansion & Contraction?
In the world of construction the proper consideration of the factors of expansion and contraction
is often missed. A survey of existing buildings tends to show wall cracks near columns and
cracks in the floor. The Design Professional must detail the project to consider expansion and
contraction of materials. The best Design Professional always do, but many neglect this
important area. Since the Construction Supervisor will have to explain the cracks or bulges at the
completion of the project, he should review the drawings at the onset and feel satisfied that the
construction details will allow the building to move appropriately. One doesnt need an
engineering degree to review these details, common sense is by far the best guide. Incidentally, if
no review is performed and building does crack or bulge, my experience shows it is very hard to
convince a group of people looking at the problem that it is not inferior workmanship and the
Contractors responsibility. It is always difficult to explain the workings of expansion and
contraction.
There are several forces at work in concrete causing expansion and contraction. Shrinkage occurs
in concrete due to excess water in the mix. Shrinkage occurs in concrete at a decreasing rate for
many years. After 90 days the average concrete shrinkage is 60% and after 1 year approximately
80% per the American Concrete Institute references. Interestingly, if the dry concrete were
flooded with water, it would expand to near the original volume.
Temperature contraction tends to shorten the concrete during cold weather. It is an interesting
side note that reinforced concrete only works because steel and concrete react to temperature
changes in an almost identical manner. If they react differently, temperature variations would tear
reinforced concrete apart. Temperature Expansion allows concrete to grow in high temperatures.
These expansion and contraction forces must be considered in the concrete work.
By way of example, lets examine a concrete slab on grade. If the concrete floor were to stay at a
constant temperature its entire life, the concrete would occupy the largest volume right at the
time of hydration (hardening). From that time, the concrete will continue to shrink due to to
water evaporation. Therefore, in normal building, where temperature swing is minimized,
concrete contraction will always be the main concern. However, if this concrete slab were part of
a large driveway outside the high summer temperatures could expand the concrete to greater than
its initial size and necessitate expansion joints.

Another method for dealing with contraction problems in concrete is to utilize shrinkagecompensating concrete. This special design mix both shrinks (like normal concrete) and expands
to provide a concrete that has greatly reduced shrinkage. The extra cost for this concrete will
typically be the Owners decision.
Expansion and contraction should be considered in all materials for a building project. But
special attention should be paid to the concrete work. Because of its low tension strength,
concrete will crack much sooner than steel or aluminum. An awareness of expansion and
contraction goes a long way in avoiding potential problems.
What Should I Know about Creep & Fatigue?
Simply defined, Creep is permanent deformation (Deflection) of a structural member under the
normal working load. For example, a concrete beam will deflect immediately under its working
load, so a concrete floor slab will deflect under its own weight and the weight of the furniture
and people setting on it. Over the next 2-5 years, though, the concrete beam will continue to
creep under the same load. This addition deflection due to creep can be three times the
magnitude of the initial deflection.
If the load on the member is increased over time, the immediate structural deflection and
associated creep will continue to increase. It is important for the Construction Supervisor to
realize that creep is a significant happening in concrete members.
The other important concept is that of fatigue, defined as fluctuating loading which leads a
structural member to fracture. Consider a concrete beam in a bridge, when a truck drives across
the bridge the beam is stressed and then the load is removed. Fatigue is often considered as the
material strength after 2,00,000 cycles of loading. When working on an older concrete building,
it is helpful to keep the concepts of creep and fatigue in mind.