At the design stage of a structure, it is not possible to predict accurately the loadings which will act on the structure
during its planned life. Nor is it possible to dene precisely
the behaviour of a structure under these loadings, or to
predict with certainty the strength of the materials which
combine to form the structure. It is necessary, therefore, for
the engineer to introduce factors of safety to be used for any
given load and material. It is necessary to rst dene the
meaning of the word satisfactory when related to the use
of the structure.
Group 1
Example 1
A skip of loose bricks is to be hoisted over a busy shopping
street. The skip weighs 1 kN and can carry approximately
5 kN of bricks, and is to be suspended from a steel rope of
ultimate tensile stress 260 N/mm2. Since the rope is of mild
steel, and to be used in town, it may be assumed that highquality steel is available and the partial factor of safety in
this material may be taken as 1.15. (Reinforced concrete
design to BS 8110 has a factor of safety for steel reinforcement bars of 1.05.)
The skip is to be lled with loose bricks and could easily
be overloaded and, as it passes over a busy shopping
street, the consequences of failure could be serious. The
partial factor of safety on the loading should therefore
be taken as 1.4 of its dead load, which is not likely to be
increased, and 1.8 on the live load which is liable to
increase. Thus:
It is also advantageous to adjust the factors of safety for different combinations of loadings. It is unlikely, for example,
that overloading of the dead, superimposed and wind
loads would all occur simultaneously, and thus the factors
are adjusted for various combinations of loading.
Design loading
Area of rope
= (1 1.4) + (5 1.8)
= 10.4 kN
260
1.15
= 226 N/mm2
10.4 103
= 46.0 mm2
226
Example 2
This is a similar problem to Example 1, but with the bricks
in pre-packed units of actual weight 5 kN and passing over
a non-navigable river. High quality steel is not available. So
an increased material factor of safety of 1.5 should be used.
The bricks are in pre-packed units of known weight and
overloading is less probable. In addition, the consequences
of failure are not serious, merely the loss of the bricks. The
partial factor of safety on the loading should be taken as 1.3
on the dead load and 1.5 on the live load. Thus:
Design loading
= (1 1.3) + (5 1.5)
= 8.8 kN
260
1.5
= 173 N/mm2
8.8 103
= 51 mm2
173