Civil Structures

Bridges
Two types:
Simply supported beam Cantilevered beam

Innovations:
 From 10,000BC, primitive beam and suspension bridges to cross rivers and ravines
 Greeks perfected beam bridges
 Roman engineers design arch bridges; more stable and secure, arch did not impede water
traffic
 Fall of Roman Empire in 5th century; medieval arch bridges not as efficient
 16th century – truss girder bridge; longer spans with safety
 19th century – modern suspension bridge
 Bowstring girder embraced by railway engineers
 20th century – first box girder used for freeways
 Cantilevered bridges, limited impediment to water traffic
 Brooklyn Bridge – first suspension bridge to use steel cables
 Concrete used as a building material for arch bridges
 Sydney Harbour Bridge completed in 1932. Cuts travel time to North Sydney
 Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure – leads to safer suspension bridges
 Sections designed to deal with wind.

Materials:
Material Advantages Disadvantages
1. Timber Readily available Rots
2. Rope Easy to use; distributes load; cheap Rots/breaking
3. Stone Doesn’t rot; strong in compression; Heavy; time-consuming; expensive to
availability manufacture
4. Bricks Doesn’t rot; strong in compression; Not strong in tension
easily shaped
5. Cast iron Strong in compression; melt into Rusts; have to paint; weak in tension
various shapes; hollowable; and shear
considerable weight reduction
6. Wrought iron Used for cabling Unreliable material due to fibrous
structure
7. Steel Strong in tension and compression Rusts; quite heavy
equally; cheap
8. Concrete Strong in compression – reinforcing Can crack; heavy
with steel gives strength in tension;
easy to transport/shape

Stress: ƒ = P/A ƒ = stress (Pa)

P = load (N)
A = cross-sectional area(m2)

Strain: e = x/l e = strain

x = extension (m)
l = original length (m)

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 If the shear plane runs perpendicularly across
the object, the shear area will be the cross-
Shear stress: ƒs = P/A ƒs = shear stress (Pa) sectional area. If, however, the shearing
operation punches a hole then the shear area
P = load (N)
will be the circumference of the hole
A = shear area (m2) multiplied by the thickness of the material.

Terms:
 Elastic limit – the stress up to which the object will return to its original form
 Yield stress – the stress where there is a marked increase in strain without a corresponding
increase in stress
 Proof stress – the amount of stress necessary to bring about a certain amount of permanent
strain in a material
 Toughness – the ability of a material to absorb energy
 Hooke’s Law – “Stress is proportional to strain up to the elastic limit” (Young’s Modulus)

Young’s Modulus:
E= ƒ = F/A = Fl
e x/l Ax

Factor of Safety:
For ductile materials, For brittle materials,
FofS = Yield stress FofS = UTS
Maximum allowable stress Maximum allowable stress

Stress/Strain diagrams:

N e c k in g
U n if o r m e x t e n s i o n dow n

Progressive
yield h a r d e n in g
W ork

Ultimate tensile
Elastic limit strength
S tre ss (ƒ )

Breaking point

Proportional
limit

E la s t ic P l a s t ic d e f o r m a t io n

S t r a in ( e )

Truss Analysis:
Support Image FBD Attributes Reasons for use
Fixed Can support vertical and To firmly anchor a
horizontal loads and moments structure

Pin or hinge Can support vertical and To provider a non-

horizontal loads moving support for
Free to rotate a bridge

Roller Can only provide reactions To allow side

normal to the surface movement for
Free to rotate expansion in a
truss

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Reactions at the supports:
1. Draw a FBD showing all loads and dimensions
2. Determine the horizontal And vertical Components of any angled forces
3. Take moments around the non-roller support first to determine the reaction
4. Use ΣFv and ΣFh to find the reactions at the pin support
5. Find the total reaction at the pin support

Method of Joints:
Using three forces:
Draw a force triangle, and then use trigonometry to solve for the needed forces.
Using four forces:
Break all angled members up into their horizontal and vertical components, and then use ΣF v and
ΣFh to find the required forces.

Method of Sections:
Cut the truss through more than two members, that cuts through the required force. Take a
moment around a point that eliminates some of the unknown forces.

Shear Force: Bending Moment:

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Either start at the left and add the forces at the Either sum the moments about active and reactive
point loads, or draw all the external forces onto forces, or work out the area under the SF diagram
the diagram and link them with horizontal lines. (if it has already been drawn), adding and
subtracting the positive and negative values
accordingly.

The neutral axis and outer fibre stresses: the upper surfaces undergo compression, while the lower
surfaces undergo tension.

Neutral axis
of the beam

Bending stress:
M = E = ƒb M = bending moment at section (Nm)
I r y I = second moment of area (m4)
E = Young’s Modulus for the material (Pa)
ƒb = My R = radius of curvature (m)
I ƒb = bending stress at section (Pa)
y = section’s distance from the neutral axis (m)

Uniformly Distributed Loads (UDL): a load that is uniformly spread across a beam.

1 0 0 0 k g u n if o r m b e a m
9 .8 k N /m

10m

Crack Theory: The way cracks form is closely linked with the applied stress, the Young’s Modulus of the
material and the strain energy present.

Strain Energy:
SE = ½ ƒe SE = strain energy / unit volume (J/m3)
ƒ = stress (Pa)
e = strain

Critical crack length:

Lg = 2WE Lg = critical crack length (m)
Πƒ2 W = work of fracture for each surface (J/m2)
E = Young’s Modulus (Pa)
ƒ = average tensile stress (Pa)

To prevent cracks in a metallic material, we weld the material together. In polymeric materials, it may be
possible to use adhesives, or replace the item altogether. In ceramic materials, replacement is often the
only option.
We can eliminate cracks from forming by creating an object with no corners, or placing interfaces within
an object. These are areas within a material, weaker than the surrounding area, that run perpendicularly
to the expected growth of cracks. When the crack reaches this interface, it is blocked from passing it.
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Engineering materials:

Testing of materials:
Non-destructive tests include:
o X-ray testing – used to determine if small cavities are present
o Dye penetrant – used to find small cracks in the surface by placing a dye on the
surface and examining the surface under UV light
o Ultrasonic – ultrasonic pulses are used to determine if cavities are present
Destructive tests include:
o Tensile – used to determine the tensile strength of materials. Test piece is
stretched and load and extension are recorded
o Compressive – used to determine the compressive strength of materials. Test piece
is compressed and load and deformation are recorded
o Transverse – used to determine a materials performance when undergoing bending
and shear
o Torsion – done to see how a material will cope with twisting forces (couples)

Ceramics:
o Stone – weak in tension, strong in compression, low in toughness (brittle)
o Glass – made from silica, soda, and lime. It is a very viscous liquid. Toughened glass
is heated, then the outer surfaces are cooled quickly to place them in compression
– this makes the glass a lot stronger
o Cement – a ceramic material formed by complex reactions when alumina, soda and
lime are reacted. Cement is a ceramic material while concrete is a composite that
partly consists of cement. When cement is mixed with water, it produces a silicate
gel, which creates heat, so needs to be hosed down. Cement and concrete also do
not reach full strength for many years.

Composites:
o Timber – consists of pored (hardwood) and non-pored (softwood). Pored timbers
come from flowering plants (angiosperms) and non-pored timbers come from the
pines and conifers (gymnosperms). Has an excellent strength to weight ratio, and
reasonable performance in bending, and a relatively high Young’s Modulus. It is
susceptible to attacks by weather and pests.
o Mortar – used between bricks in buildings. Contains Portland cement, sand and lime
in the ratio 3:2:1.
o Concrete – consists of cement, sand and aggregate (usually gravel). Cost is reduced
by the aggregate, because less cement is required. Offers far greater strength
than cement and is cheaper. Consists of 4 parts aggregate to 2 parts sand to 1 part
cement. Reinforced concrete can be made in one of two ways:
 Pre-stressed concrete is created when stressed cables are placed through
the wet concrete – when it dries, these are released, placing the concrete
in compression and increasing its strength.

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  Post-stressed concrete is formed when concrete is cast with tubes running
through the material – after setting and curing, wires are pulled through
the tubes and anchored in tension, increasing the strength of the concrete.
Concrete also gets “concrete cancer” – when the reinforcing steel corrodes it
expands, which causes the concrete to crack. To alleviate this, the concrete is
vibrated into position, to reduce porosity.
o Asphalt – Widely used for road surfaces. It is tough and crack-resistant due to the
exposed aggregate. It can deal with slight movements in the road surface better
than concrete, because of its toughness.
o Laminates – materials that consist of varying materials sandwiched together. Some
of these include:
 Plywood – consists of layers of timber with the grain arranged at 90o to
each successive layer
 Laminated glass – two layers of glass are passed through rollers that
compress a vinyl sheet lying between them. The result is a shatter-proof
glass
 Bimetallic strips – one metal will have a different thermal expansion rate to
the other so as it heats up it will deflect from its neutral position. Used for
thermostats and protection circuits in gas systems
o Geotextiles – woven polymers or ceramic fibres used for a variety of purposes.
Used to stabilize road surfaces and stop drains from getting clogged

Corrosion: the chemical deterioration of a material. Metallic corrosion involves the breakdown of
metals or metallic alloys, and is basically the reverse of the refining process.
o Oxidisation occurs when a metal loses electrons, and it occurs at the anode.
Reduction is when a metal gains electrons, and it occurs at the cathode. An easy
way to remember this: OILRIG (Oxidisation is loss, reduction is gain).
o Dry corrosion occurs through chemical reactions of metals or alloys with gases in
furnaces at high temperatures. Wet corrosion occurs when a metal is placed into a
fluid, usually an electrolyte.
 Uniform attack – if a metal is placed in a liquid, some parts will become
anodic while others will become cathodic. The locations of the anode and
cathode will continually change, resulting in uniform corrosion.
 Galvanic attack:
 Galvanic corrosion occurs when dissimilar metals are placed
together in the presence of a corroding environment
 Concentration cells occur where there is a difference in
concentration of the electrolyte, for example where the liquid has
been settled for a period of time
 Stress cells are the result of high residual stress in parts of a
metal object – these areas become anodic while the lower stress
areas become cathodic.
o Some protective methods are used to stop corrosion, including painting, and
galvanizing, or dipping the steel pieces in molten zinc which creates a protective
layer.

Orthogonal Drawing:
Developments:
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 A development is when a shape is laid out flat with any fold lines shown. They can be
simple, such as a cube, or can be more difficult – for these we use development by triangulation.

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