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Introduction;
Engineering Structures;
- the word structure has various meanings. By an engineering structure, that
means roughly something constructed or built. The principal structures of
concern to civil engineers are bridges, buildings, walls, dams towers and shell
structures. Structures as such are composed of one or more solid elements so
arranged that the whole structures as well as their components are capable of
holding themselves without appreciable geometric change during loading and
unloading.
To design a structure involves many considerations, among which are two
major objectives that must be satisfied;
-

the structure must meet the performance requirement

the structure must carry the loads safely

Consider, for example, the roof trusses resting on columns shown in

figure below. The purposes of the roof truss and of the columns are, on the
hand, to hold in equilibrium their own weights, the load of roof covering
the wind; and, on the other hand, to provide shelter for housing a family,
a manufacturing plant, or for other uses.

the
one
and
for

Theory of Structures Defined;

- the complete design of a structure is outlined in the following stages;

Developing a General Layout;

- the general layout of a structure is selected from any possible alternatives.
The primary concern is the purpose for which the structure is to be built.
This stage involves the structural type, the selection of material and a
tentative estimation of cost based on a reasonable analysis of a preliminary
structural design. It may also involve selecting the best location or adapting
the structure to a site that has not been predetermined. Proper attention
should also be given to the aesthetic value of the structure since the
requirement of good appearance can reasonably be met without much increase in
cost. There are many other considerations, including the legal, financial,
sociological, cultural, and environmental aspects. It is clear that this stage
of design calls for an engineer with a high order of experience, skill,
general knowledge and imagination.

Investigating the Loads;

- before a refined structural analysis, it is necessary to determine the loads
for which a given structure should be designed. General information about the
loads imposed on a structure is usually given in the specifications and codes.
However, it is part of the designers responsibility to specify the load
conditions and to take care of exceptional cases.
The weight of the structure itself together with the material
permanently attached to it is called the dead loads and is regarded as fixed
in magnitude and location. Since the dead load must be approximated before the

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structure is designed, the preliminary data are only tentative. Revision must
be made if the initial estimation is not satisfactory.
All loads, other than the dead loads, may be called live loads. Live
loads are generally classified as movable loads and moving loads. Movable
loads are loads that may be transported from one location to another on a
structure without dynamic impact; for example, people, furniture and goods on
a building floor or rainwater on a roof. Moving loads are loads that move
continuously over the structure, such as railway trains or tracks on a bridge,
wind on a roof or wall or hydrostatic pressure on an abutment. Moving loads
may also be applied suddenly to the structure, for example, the centrifugal
and longitudinal forces induced by the acceleration of vehicles and the
dynamic forces generated by earthquakes.
In an ordinary structural design, all loads are treated as static loads
in order to simplify the analysis. In this way the impact due to a moving live
load is expressed as a percentage of the live load and the earthquake force is
commonly considered to be a horizontal force equal to a fraction of the weight
of a structure.
Other load considerations may include thermal effects and resistance to
bomb blasting.

Stress Analysis;
- once the basic form of the structure and the external loads are defined, a
structural analysis can be made to determine the internal forces in various
members of the structure and the displacements at some controlling points.
When live loads are involved, it is important to determine the maximum
possible stresses in each member being considered. The principles governing
this phase of the design is usually discuss in the theory of structures.

Selection of Elements;
- the selection of suitable sizes and shapes of members and their connections
depends on the results of the stress analysis together with the design
provisions of the specifications or codes. A trial and error approach may be
used in the search for a proportioning of elements that will be both
economical and adequate. A sound knowledge of strength of material and process
of fabrication is also essential.

Drawing and Detailing;

- once the makeup of each part of the structure has been determined, the last
stage of the design can begin. This final stage includes the preparation of
contract drawing, detailing, job specification and the final cost; this
information is necessary for construction to proceed.

these five stages are interrelated and may be subdivided and modified. In many
cases, they must be carried out more or less simultaneously. The subject matter
of the theory of structures is stress analysis with occasional reference to
loading. The emphasis of structural theory is usually on the fundamentals rather
than on the details of design.

Theory of Structures Classified;

- structural theory may be classified from various points of view.
convenience, structural theory is characterize by the following aspects;

For

Statics versus Dynamics;

- ordinary structures are usually designed under static loads. Dead loads are
static loads that cause no dynamic effect on structures. Some live loads, such
as, trucks and locomotives moving on bridges, are also assumed as concentrated

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static load systems. They do cause impact on structures; however, the dynamic
effects are treated as a fraction of the moving loads to simplify the design.
The particular, specialized branch that deals with the dynamic effects
of structures of accelerated moving loads, earthquake loads, wind gusts or
bomb blasts is structural dynamics.

Plane versus Space;

- no structure is really planar. However, structural analysis for beams,
trussed bridges or rigid frame buildings are usually treated as plane
problems, although they are never two-dimensional in themselves. On the other
hand, in some structures, such as towers and framing for domes, the stresses
are interrelated between the members not lying in a plane in such a way that
the analysis cannot be simplified on the basis of component planar structures.
Such structures must be considered as space frameworks under non-coplanar
force system.

Linear versus Nonlinear Structures;

- linear structures mean that a linear relationship is assumed to exist between
the applied loads and the resulting displacements
in a structure. This
assumption is based on the following conditions;

the material of the structure is elastic and obey the Hookes Law at all
points and throughout the range of loading considered

the changes in the geometry of the structure are so small that they can be
neglected when the stresses are calculated

Note that if the principle of superposition is to apply, a linear

relationship must exist, or be assumed to exist, between loads and
displacements. The principle of superposition states that the total effect at
some point in a structure due to a number of causes (forces or displacements)
acting simultaneously is equal to the sum of the effects for the causes
acting separately.
A nonlinear relationship between the applied actions and the resulting
displacements exists under of two conditions;

the material of the structure is inelastic

the material is within elastic range, but the geometry of the structure
changes significantly during the application of the loads

The study of nonlinear behaviour of structures

analysis of structures and buckling of structures.

includes

plastic

Statically Determinate versus Statically Indeterminate Structures;

- the term statically determinate structure means that the structural analysis
can be carried out by statics alone. If this is not so, the structure is
statically indeterminate.
A statically indeterminate structure is solved by the equations of
statics together with the equations furnished by the geometry of the elastic
curve of the structure in linear analysis. It can be noted that the elastic
deformations of the structure are not only associated with the applied loads
on the structure but are also affected by the material properties (e.g., the
modulus of elasticity) and by the geometric properties of the member section
(e.g., the cross-sectional area or the moment of inertia). Thus, loads,
material properties and geometric properties are all involved in solving a

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statically indeterminate structure, while load factor alone dominates in a

statically determinate problem.

Force versus Displacement;

- the force and displacement are two categories of event occurring to a
structure. The objective of a structural analysis is to determine forces and
displacements pertaining to the structure and their relationships specified by
the geometric and material properties of structural elements. Structural
analysis can be divided into two categories; the force and the displacement
methods. In the force method, the forces are treated as the basic unknowns and
the displacements are expressed in terms of forces; whereas, in the
displacement method, it is the displacements that are regarded as the
fundamental unknowns and the forces are expressed in terms of displacements.
In matrix analysis of linear structures, the force method is often regarded to
as the flexibility method, and the displacement method is called the
stiffness method.

Actual and Ideal Structures;

- all analyses are based on some assumptions not quite in accordance with the
facts. It is impossible for an actual structure to correspond fully to the
idealized structure on which the analysis is based. The materials of which the
structure is built do not follow exactly the assumed properties and the
dimensions of the actual structure do not coincide with their theoretical
values.
To illustrate, let us take a simple example. In designing a reinforced
concrete beam of rectangular section, the values of the modulus of elasticity
and the moment of inertia are usually assumed to be constant. However, the
amount of reinforcing steel placed in the beam varies with the stresses;
therefore, the values of the modulus of elasticity and the moment of inertia are
not constant throughout the span. Besides, there is a great uncertainty involved
even in choosing a constant value of the modulus of elasticity and the moment of
inertia. Even without considering other factors, such as the supports, the
connections and the working dimensions of the structure, it can be noted that
the behaviour of an actual structure often deviates from that of an idealized
structure by a considerable amount. However, it does not follow from this that
the results of analysis are not useful for practical purposes. Therefore, the
process of structural solution is setting an idealized model in order to carry
out practical analysis and from the practical analyses, the idealization can be
made more and more consistent with actuality.
Scope of Theory of Structures;
- three major types of basic structures are thoroughly considered in structural
theory;

Rigid Frame;
- composed of members connected by rigid joints capable of resisting moments.
Members of a rigid frame, in general, are subjected to bending moment, shear
and axial forces.

Truss;
- composed of members connected by frictionless hinges or pins. The loads on a
truss are assumed to be concentrated at the joints. Each member of a truss is
considered as a two-force member subjected to axial force only.

Beam;

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a straight member subjected only to transverse loads. A beam is completely

analyzed when the values of bending moment and shear are determined.

Stability and Determinacy of Structures;

Equations of Equilibrium for a Coplanar Force System;
- the first and major function of a structure is to carry loads without showing
appreciable distortions. In structural statics, all force systems are assumed to
act on rigid bodies. Actually, there are always some small deformations that may
cause some small change of dimension in structure and a shifting of the action
lines of the forces. However, such deviations are neglected in stress analysis.
A structure is said to be in equilibrium if, under the action of external
forces, it remains at rest relative to the earth. Also, each part of the
structure, if taken, as a free body isolated from the whole, must be at rest
relative to the earth under the action of the internal forces at the cut
sections and of the external forces thereabout. If such is the case, the force
system is balanced, or in equilibrium, which implies that the resultant of the
force system (either a resultant force or a resultant couple) imposed on the
structure, or segment thereof, must be zero.
The generally balanced coplanar force system must then satisfy the
following three simultaneous equations;

where:

Fx

Fx

summation of x component of each force in the system

Fy

summation of y component of each force in the system

M a -

Fy

M a =

summation of moment about any point a in the plane due to

each force

The subscripts x and y indicate two mutually perpendicular directions in

the Cartesian coordinate system.

Special Cases of the Coplanar Force System in Equilibrium;

-

Concurrent Forces;
if a system of coplanar, concurrent forces is in equilibrium,
forces of the system must satisfy the following equations;

Fx

Fy

then the

Another set of independent equations necessary and sufficient for the

equilibrium of the forces of a coplanar, concurrent force system, provided
that point a is not on the line through the concurrent point of forces and
perpendicular to y axis, is;
Fy

M a =

A third set of equations of equilibrium for a coplanar, concurrent

force system, provided that line through a and b does not pass through the
concurrent point of the forces, is;

M a =

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THEORY1

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Chapter 1

Parallel Forces;
if a coplanar, parallel force system is in equilibrium, the forces of the
system must satisfy the equations;
Fy

M a =

Another set of independent equations of equilibrium for a system of a

coplanar, parallel forces, provided that line through a and b is not
parallel to the forces of the system, may be given as;

M a =

M b =

Simple, Special Cases of Equilibrium;

-

Two-Force Member;
in the figure shown below, a body is subjected to two external forces
applied at a and b. If the body is in equilibrium, then the two forces
cannot be in random orientation, but must be directed along ab.
Furthermore, they must be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Three-Force Member;
in the figure shown below, a body is subjected to the action of three
external forces applied at a, b, and c. If the body is in equilibrium, then
the three forces cannot be in random orientation, but must be concurrent at
a common point O; otherwise the total moment about the intersection of any
two forces would not vanish. A limiting case occurs when point O moves off
at an infinite distance from a, b, and c in which case the three forces
will be parallel.

Support Reactions;
- structures are either partially or completely restrained so that they cannot
move freely in space. Such restraints are provided by supports that connect the
structure to some stationary body, such as the ground or another structure. The
first step in structural analysis is to take the structure without the supports
and calculate the forces, known as reactions, exerted on the structure by the
supports. The reactions are considered part of the external forces other than
the loads on the structure and are to balance the other external loads in a
state of equilibrium.
The distribution of the reactive forces of a support may be represented by
a single force completely specified by three elements-the point of application,
the direction and the magnitude.

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Hinge Support;
- a hinge can resist a general force, P, in any direction but cannot resist the
moment of the force about the connecting point. The reaction of a hinge
support is assumed to be through the center of the connecting pin; its
magnitude and slope of action line is yet to be determined. It is therefore a
reaction with two unknown elements, which could equivalently represented by
unknown magnitudes of its horizontal and vertical components both acting
through the center of the hinge pin.

Roller Support;
- the support mechanism used is such that the reaction acts normal to the
supporting surface through the center of the connecting pin. The reaction may
be either away from or toward the supporting surface. As such, the roller
support is incapable of resisting moment and lateral force along the surface
of the support. A roller support supplies a reactive force, fixed at a known
point and in a known direction, the magnitude of which is unknown. It is
therefore a reaction with one unknown element.

Fixed Support;
- a fixed support is capable of resisting force in any direction and the moment
of force about the connecting end, thus preventing the end of the member from
both translation and rotation. The reaction supplied by a fixed support may be
represented by the unknown magnitudes of a moment, a horizontal force and a
vertical force acting through the centroid of the end cross section O.
M

Rx

Rx

Ry
hinge

R
roller

Ry
fixed

Internal Forces at a Cut Section of a Structure;

- a truss structure is composed of pin-connected members and is assumed to be
pin-loaded. If any one of the members is taken from its connecting pins as a
free body, the forces exerted on the member must be concentrated at the two ends
of the member through the center of the pins. Furthermore, these two systems of
concurrent forces can be combined into two resultant forces that must be equal,
opposite and collinear. In other words, each member of a truss is a two-force
member. Hence, the internal forces existing in any cut section of a truss member
(assumed straight and uniform) must be a pair of equal and opposite axial forces
to balance the axial forces exerted on the ends.

Members of structures, such as beams and rigid frames, are acted on by

more than two forces. It is obvious that forces of internal constraint must
exist between these two portions in order to hold them together. Such internal
forces, of course, always occur in pairs of equal and opposite directions. To
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THEORY1

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maintain equilibrium of the free body, however, the internal forces must be
statically equal and opposite to the system of forces acting externally on the
portion considered and the internal forces can always be represented by a force
applied at the centroid of the cross section together with a couple of moment.

Equations of Condition or Construction;

- structures such as truss, beam and rigid frame may sometimes be considered to
be one rigid body sustained in space by a number of supports. Out of several
such rigid bodies, a compound form of structure may be built by means of
connecting devices, such as hinges, links or rollers and mounted on a number of
supports. In either the simple or the compound type of structure, the external
force system of the entire structure, consisting of the loads on the structure
and the support reactions, must satisfy the equations of equilibrium if the
structure is to remain at rest. However, in the compound type of structure, the
connecting devices enforce further restrictions on the force system acting on
the structure, thus providing additional equations of statics to supplement the
equations of equilibrium. Equations supplied by the method of special
construction (other than external supports) are called equations of condition or
construction.
Stability and Determinacy of a Structure with Respect to Supports when the
Structure is considered a Monolithic Rigid Body;
- when one considers the design of a structure, careful thought must be given to
the number and arrangement of the supports directly related to the statical
stability and determinacy of the structure. If a structure is treated as one
monolithic rigid body mounted on a number of supports, there will be no internal
condition involved and the stability and determinacy of the structure will be
judged solely by the stability and determinacy of supports.
-

two elements of reaction supplied by supports, such as two forces each with a
definite point of application and direction, are not sufficient to ensure the
stability of a rigid body, because the two are either collinear, parallel or
concurrent. In this case, the condition of equilibrium is violated, not
because of the lack of strength of supports, but because of the insufficient
number of support elements. This is referred to as statical instability.

at least three elements of reaction are necessary to restrain a body in

stable equilibrium. In a stable equilibrium condition, the rigid body is
subjected to restraints by three elements of reactions and the restraints can

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be solved by the three available equilibrium equations. The satisfaction of

all the three equilibrium equations, for loads and reactions acting on a body
guarantees, respectively, that the body will neither move horizontally or
vertically nor rotate. The system is said to be statically stable and
determinate.

if there are more than three elements of reaction the body is necessarily
more stable because of the additional restraints. Since the number of unknown
elements of reaction is more than the number of equations for static
equilibrium, the system is said to be statically indeterminate with regard to
the reactions of support.

the number of elements of reaction should be at least three is a necessity

but not a sufficient condition for an externally stable structure. There are
many cases that are obviously not stable with respect to the support system
even though three or more than three elements of reaction are supplied. When,
for example, the lines of reaction are all parallel, the body is unstable
because it is vulnerable to lateral sliding. Another case is when the lines of
three reaction elements are originally concurrent at a point. The system is
also unstable because, even though complete collapse probably will not result,
a small initial rotation about the point because of the moment caused by any
force not passing through the point will certainly occur until the three
reaction lines form the triangle. This instability, which results from the
inadequacy of arrangement of supports, is referred to as external geometric
instability.

a monolithic rigid body is rigid by definition; hence, it will have no

problem of internal instability. Furthermore, at any cut section of a
monolithic rigid body, the elements of the internal force, which are no more
than three in number, can always be determined by the equations of
equilibrium, once the reactions are completely defined. Therefore, the
stability and determinacy of the entire system are solely determined by the
stability and determinacy of supports and reactions.

summing up the above-mentioned discussion, the following conclusions can be

derived;
-

if the number of unknown elements of reaction is fewer than three, the

equations of equilibrium are generally not satisfied and the system is said to
be unstable

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THEORY1

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if the number of unknown elements of reaction is equal to three and if no

external geometric instability is involved, then the system is statically
stable and determinate

if the number of unknown elements of reaction is more than three, then the
system is statically indeterminate; it is stable provided no external
geometric instability is involved. The excess number, n, of unknown elements
designates the nth degree of indeterminacy.

General Stability and Determinacy of Structures;

- structural stability and determinacy must be judged by the number and
arrangement of the supports as well as the number and arrangement of the members
and the connections of the structure. They are determined by inspection or by
formula.

General Stability and Determinacy of Beams;

- if a beam is built up without any internal connections (internal hinge,
roller or link), the entire beam may be considered as one piece of monolithic
rigid body placed on a number of supports and the question of the stability
and of the determinacy of the beam is settled solely by the number and
arrangement of supports.
Geometric instability is most likely to occur whenever internal
connections are inserted into an originally stable structure. The beam will
obviously become unstable under general loading as the result of a relative
rotation on both sides of the beam because the hinge has no capacity to
resist moment and this will constitute a restriction on the external forces
acting on the structure.

Also by investigation, there are three elements of reaction supplied by

the supports, whereas, there are four conditions of statics to resist the
external forces-three from equilibrium plus one from construction. This means
that the number of unknown elements of reaction is one fewer than the
independent equations of statics available for their solution. Therefore, the
equations of statics for the force system are generally not satisfied. The
beam is unstable unless at least one additional element of reaction, such as
a roller support, is provided which makes the total number of unknown
elements of reaction equal to the total number of independent equations of
statics needed to determine the elements. If this is done, the beam will be
restored to a statically stable and determinate state.
From the above discussion, a criterion can be established for stability
and determinacy of beams.

if r < (c + 3), the beam is unstable

if r = (c + 3), the beam is statically determinate provided that no

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Chapter 1

geometric instability (external or internal) is involved

where:

r
c

the number of reaction elements

the number of equations of conditions

=
=
=

1.0
2.0
0

for hinge
for roller
for beam without internal connection

General Stability and Determinacy of Truss;

- a truss is composed of a number of bars connected at their ends by a number
of pinned joints so as to form a network, usually a series of triangles, and
mounted on a number of supports. Each bar of a truss is a two-force member;
hence, each represents one unknown element of internal force. The total number
of unknown elements of the entire system is counted by the number of bars
(internal) plus the number of independent reaction elements (external). If the
truss is in equilibrium, every isolated portion of the truss must likewise be
in equilibrium. For a truss having a certain number of joints, the entire
system may be separated into free bodies, the number of which is the same as
the number of joints, in which each joint yields two equilibrium equations.
Therefore, a criterion can be established for the stability and determinacy of
trusses.

if (b + r) < 2j,

system is unstable

if (b + r) = 2j,

system is statically determinate provided that it is

also stable

if (b + r) > 2j,

system is statically indeterminate

where:

if r > (c + 3), the beam is statically indeterminate

b
r
j

the number of bars

the number of reaction components
the number of joints

General Stability and Determinacy of Rigid Frames;

- a rigid frame is built of beams and columns connected rigidly. The stability
and determinacy of a rigid frame may also be investigated by comparing the
number of unknowns (internal unknowns and reaction unknowns) with the number
of equations of statics available for their solution. Like a truss, a rigid
frame may be separated into a number of free bodies of joints, which requires
that every member of the frame be taken apart. There are usually three unknown
magnitudes existing in a cut section of a member. However, if these quantities
are known at one section of a member, similar quantities for any other section
of the same member can be determined. Hence, there are only three independent,
internal, unknown elements for each member in a frame. The criteria for the
stability and determinacy of a rigid frame are established by comparing the
number of unknowns with the number of independent equations.

if (3b + r) < (3j + c),

the frame is unstable

if (3b + r) = (3j + c),

the frame is statically determinate provided

that it is also stable

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THEORY1

where:

Structural Theory 1

if (3b + r) > (3j + c),

b
r
j
c

the
the
the
the

Chapter 1

the frame is statically indeterminate

number
number
number
number

of
of
of
of

members
reaction components
joints
equations of conditions

EX. Classify each of the beam shown.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

(F)

c + 3

Condition

statically determinate

statically indeterminate
(first degree)

statically indeterminate
(second degree)

statically unstable

statically unstable

statically indeterminate
(third degree)

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Chapter 1

EX. Classify each of the trusses shown.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

(F)

(G)

(H)

b + r

2j

condition

17

10

20

20

statically determinate

17

10

19

20

unstable

21

10

24

20

16

10

19

20

unstable

26

15

20

30

statically determinate

10

13

14

unstable

11

14

14

statically determinate

10

14

14

statically determinate

Engr. I.R. Bonzon

statically indeterminate
(fourth degree)

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THEORY1

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Chapter 1

EX. Classify each of the plane frame shown.

(A)

(B)

(C)

3b + r

3j + c

condition

23

18

statically indeterminate
(fifth degree)

15

12

statically indeterminate
(third degree)

10

39

27

statically indeterminate
(twelfth degree)

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14