Structural Studies Introduction

Figure 1 The Iron Bridge, Shropshire, England, 1779. (Photo credit: Flickr by Bs0u10e0)

Learning the Vocabulary

WContents
1. Introduction
2. Units and Notation
3. Boundary Conditions
4. Loads

Princeton University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor Maria E. Garlock Moreyra
Structural Studies Introduction

1. Introduction
To understand the behavior of structures, and to communicate this understanding clearly,
engineers have developed a precise language. This document presents the rudiments of
this language, which enable an engineer to break down a complicated problem into simpler
elements. At first glance, this language may appear overly complicated. Once familiar,
though, it is both powerful and simple.

This document presents different types of structures which are explored from a technical
standpoint through structural studies. The same procedure is employed in all cases.
First, the actual structure is simplified into an idealized model. Then, where applicable,
the following areas are investigated: geometry, loads, reactions, internal forces, stresses,
efficiency and safety factors.

An actual structure is a complex system with numerous details, many of which are generally
unnecessary for an understanding of its basic behavior under loads. To proceed in a clear
and simple manner, the structure must be idealized (i.e. simplified).

In structural analysis, idealization usually means neglecting details that would have little
influence on the results. Only thorough and rigorous analyses account for such details.
Idealizations are slight alterations of circumstances —whether they are the structure’s
shape or its loads— that make the analysis more simplified and straightforward.

For example, when analyzing the Washington Monument (an obelisk), it is convenient to
idealize the column as simply a longitudinal line coincident with the axis of the monument.
In fact, during an analysis most structures’ elements are reduced to single lines or curves in
a one-dimensional representation.

2. Units and Notation

For consistency most calculations are presented in the English system. Thus the following
units are used in the structural studies:

Length: Inches [in], Feet [ft]

Force: Pounds [lbs], Kips [k]
Stress: Pounds per square inch [psi], Kips per square inch [ksi]

Note that a kip is a unit for measuring weight or force, which is equivalent to 1,000 pounds.

The assignment of variables in this course will most often coincide with common engineering
practice. For uniformity, however, a few basic rules have been followed. A lowercase
variable name shall usually correspond to a distributed force. Since it is distributed along
the length of a structure, its units will always be in pounds per foot or kips per foot. Likewise,
a capitalized variable name shall usually correspond to a concentrated force, and will have
units of pounds or kips.

A lowercase p is used to denote a uniform load with horizontal direction acting on a

structure, while the capitalized form, P, is used to label a concentrated horizontal force.
When such forces are in the vertical direction, we use q and Q, respectively.

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Structural Studies Introduction

Figure 2
Distributed uniform load of
length h, and its equivalent
concentrated force.

Figure 3
Distributed uniform load of
length h/2, and its equivalent
concentrated force.

Figure 2 shows a uniform wind load, p, acting horizontally along the side of a structure, and
its equivalent force P. The value of P is the product of p times the total length over which p
is applied. In Figure 2 (left) for example, P = ph, while in Figure 3 (left), P = p(h/2).

The equivalency is complete only after this force is applied at the centroid point of the load
distribution, namely the point representing the mean position of such distribution. Figure 3
(left) shows a uniform load only on the top half of the structure; its equivalent concentrated
load acts at the centroid of this load distribution, or 3/4 of the height, h.

3. Boundary Conditions
Figure 4 contains the four types of boundary conditions (supports) that apply to our analysis
of structures. We use a beam (Figure 4, top) and a cantilever (Figure 4, below) to illustrate
them. From left to right, they are the pin and the roller in the beam, and the fixed end and
the free end in the cantilever. Both the roller and the pin act as a ‘hinge’. Much like a door
hinge, this boundary condition has no resistance to rotation. When a beam is supported as
shown in Figure 4 (top), it is referred as a simply supported beam. Figure 4 (bottom) depicts
a cantilever beam, that is, fixed on one end and free on the other.

In a planar system, which will constitute the limits of our analysis, there are three possible
degrees of freedom: translation in the horizontal direction, translation in the vertical
direction, and rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane at a given point. These
three degrees of freedom correspond to the three equations of static equilibrium that are
discussed in detail in Structural Studies: Basics of Structural Analysis.

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Structural Studies Introduction

Figure 4
Boundary conditions:
Top: simply supported beam
Below: contilever beam

Each of the boundary conditions in Table 1 represents varying degrees of freedom in a

planar system. In the cantilever, the fixed end has no degrees of freedom and the free
end has three. The pin supporting the beam allows only rotation, providing one degree of
freedom, while the roller allows for horizontal translation in addition to rotation, providing
two. The third column in Table 1 indicates how a support will react to a structure bound to
it by the type of support specified in column one. For example, the pin in Figure 3, top, can
only react to the beam it supports with a vertical and a horizontal force.

Table 1
Boundary conditions

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Structural Studies Introduction

4. Loads
The loads applied to a structure are the forces it must resist. They influence the size and
shape of a structure and can be classified as either dead or live loads. Dead loads are
permanent and include the weight of the building and incorporated machinery. A structure
must carry its own weight before it can support other loads. Live loads include people,
furniture, and natural forces such as wind and snow. Supporting and resisting these
temporary loads are the reason a structure is built: to carry people and their belongings
and shelter them from nature.

Loads can be uniformly distributed along a specified length or width of a structure (e.g p in
Figures 2 and 3). External loads can also be concentrated and idealized as located at just
one point on the structure, hence they are also referred to as point loads (e.g P in Figures
2 and 3). The functional notation q(x) or p(x) are used to express load distributions that
change along the width or height x of the structures where they act.

Loads on structures are represented by forces or moments. A force has a magnitude (i.e.
95 k), and a direction (i.e. north-east). Such a quantity is known mathematically as a vector.
The force will try to displace the structure along its direction.

A moment of a force is always defined relative to a given point, and it is needed to quantify
the ability of the force to produce a rotation or bending of the structure around the alluded
point. Its value is defined as the product of the magnitude of the forces times the distance
from the line of forces to the point of reference. The typical convention is to assign a negative
sign to a moment producing a clockwise rotation. Figure 5 illustrates the moment of force
R relative to point B. It is a positive moment since the force R creates a counterclockwise
rotation of the force R around point B.

Figure 5
Bending Moment M of force R
relative to point B

w Summary of Terms

P or Q point load lbs or k

p or q distributed load lbs/ft or k/ft
h height length ft
L span lenght ft
V vertical reaction lbs or k
H horizontal reaction lbs or k
M bending moment lbs-ft or k-ft

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Structural Studies Introduction

w Glossary

Abutment: part of a bridge structure that bears the vertical and horizontal reaction
forces of an arch.

Ambiguous form: unclear how the forces are being carried.

Anchorages: in a suspension bridge, it is concrete or masonry construction

securing a cable.

Art deco: predominant decorative art style of the 1920s and 1930s, characterized
by precise and boldly delineated geometric shapes and strong colors.

Backspan (or anchor span): on a suspension or cantilever bridge, located at the

outermost end, it counterbalances the arm of a span extending in the opposite
direction from a major point of support; the span from an anchorage to the nearest
pier or tower.

Balanced cantilever method: efficient construction method that avoids

temporary shoring, consisting of starting from the permanent piers and proceeding
to cantilever the deck from the pier in a balanced manner to midspan, before
ultimately connecting cantilevers from adjacent piers.

Broken arch: arch that shows a discontinuity at midspan, thus articulating a hinge.

Cable: structural element to resist tension only.

Cable-stayed bridge: bridge in which the weight of the deck is supported by a

number of cables running directly to one or more towers.

Caissons: a watertight chamber open at the bottom and containing air under
pressure, used to carry out construction work under water.

Cantilever: a protruding rigid structural element, such as a beam or girder,

anchored only at one end.

Compression: application of inward forces (“pushing”) to different points on a

structure.

Creep: in concrete, creep is continued shortening of a structure in compression

under constant sustained load. Creep eventually stops after some time but it can be
dangerous to prestressed beams if not accounted for.

Crescent arch shape: an arch having a crescent-like form.

Dead load: a constant, non-dynamic load in a structure that is due to the weight
of the members, the supported structure, and permamnent attachments or
accessories (walls, platerboard, roof etc.).

Deflection: degree to which a structural element is displaced under a load, may

refer to an angle or a distance.

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Structural Studies Introduction

w Glossary

Density: mass per unit volume.

Elasticity: ability of a body to resist a distorting influence or stress and to return to

its original size and shape when the stress is removed.

Fan arrangement: in a cable-stayed bridge, design in which the cables all connect
to the top of the towers.

Flutter: unstable oscillation which can lead to the destruction of solid structures.

Harp arrangement: in a cable-stayed bridge, design in which the cables are nearly
parallel so that the height of their attachment to the tower is proportional to the
distance from the tower to their mounting on the deck.

Haunched beam: a beam that deepens at the support. This deepening occurs in
continuous beams where moment is transferred over the support.

Hollow box form: a form of the box girder bridge, in which the main beams
comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box, usually rectangular or trapezoidal in
cross-section.

Hybrid bridge: type of bridge (often suspension) that combines elements from
different traditional forms.

International orange: a reddish orange used to set objects apart from its
surroundings; it is the color of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Live load: a moving, variable weight added to the dead load or intrinsic weight of a
structure (such as moving traffic on a bridge).

Parabolic: having the shape of a parabola.

Parapet: a wall at the edge of a bridge that is used as a barrier.

Polygonal arch: an arch that is not smooth, but composed of straight lines between
the cross-walls.

Prestressed concrete: high strength steel strands are embedded in the concrete
beam and stretched (pulled into tension) and subsequently anchored against the
beam ends, which places the concrete beam in compression.

Prestressed deck: when the deck of a bridge has reinforcing strands built into it
during its construction.

Reinforced concrete: concrete in which steel bars are embedded to increase

tensile strength.

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Structural Studies Introduction

w Glossary

Resonance: relatively large selective response of an object or a system that vibrates

in step or phase, with an externally applied oscillatory force, large enough to be
destructive in certain cases.

Sag: the distance from the top of the tower to the lowest part of the cable on the
mainspan of a suspension bridge.

Self-excitation: feedback of the output of a generator or oscillator; generation of

its own energy and depending on resonant circuits for frequency determination.

Span: longest unsupported length.

Spandrel: the planarlike structure that connects the arch to the deck.

Stays (or stay cables): cables (strand, wire, carbon) used to transfer structural load.
In the case of the Brooklyn Bridge, the “stays” are the diagonal cables mainly used to
control the effects of wind forces.

Suspenders: vertical members suspending the deck, or carrying the loads to the
main cable.

Suspension bridge: a bridge in which the weight of the deck is supported by

suspended cables that are anchored at their extremities and raised on towers.

Tension: describes the pulling force exerted by each end of a rod, truss member, or
similar three dimensional object.

The Alamillo effect: a costly bridge that changes the aesthetic trends of its time,
despite lacking efficiency.

Three-hinged arch: an arch that is hinged at both abutments and at the mid-span.

Tied-arch bridge: an arch having the horizontal reaction component provided by a

tie between the inset abutments of the arch, in other words the horizontal forces are
borne by the bridge deck rather than the foundations.

Torsion: twisting phenomenon as a response to applied forces.

Truss: a structural framework of wood or metal, often arranged in triangles, used to

support a bridge.

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Structural Studies Introduction

w Visual Glossary

Suspension Bridges

Cable Stayed Bridges

(Pylon)

Arched Bridges

Cross Walls

Tie Arch Bridges

(Hangers)

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Structural Studies Introduction

w Visual Glossary

Beam Bridges

Simply Supported

Cantilever (idealized)

Continuous

Continuous Cantilever (idealized)

Haunched

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