THEORY OF STRUCTURES ASSIGNMENT

SUBMISSION BY: RIYA BAGCHI, 4TH YEAR B

Q: Explain by neat sketch a larger span steel truss. Explain how stresses
are developed in domes and shells.
A.

Structure with span larger than 20m can be regarded as long span
structure for this span is usually unable to be achieved by ordinary RC
structure.
DOMES:
Domes are thin shells in the form of surfaces of revolution. It is defined as
a shell of thickness t, for which R/T > 20 where R is the minimum radius
of curvature. This thickness of the shell may vary across its surface.
Domes are slef supporting structures. They take the form of an arch
distributing external loads around the sides and down to the foundations.
They are tightly compacted by gravity and any external loads are carried
by the compressive force that develop internally.
A dome, like an arch is characterised by a thrust. A thrust comprises of
two forces: the weight of the structure and the horizontal thrust. The
thrust acts downwards but the overall direction is dependent on the profile

of the arch and weight. The weight and flatness of an arch will affect the
horizontal thrust, the flatter an arch the higher the horizontal thrust.
The horizontal thrust normal affects the supports but also occurs at the
crown on an arch balancing the other half of the arch. It can be controlled
by buttresses or encircling ties.

The primary response of a dome to loading is development of membrane

compressive stresses along the meridians, by analogy to the arch. The
dome also develops compressive or tensile membrane stresses along lines
of latitude. These are known as hoop stresses and are tensile at the base
and compressive higher up in the dome.

SHELLS:
Thin-shell structures are also called plate and shell structures. They are
lightweight constructions using shell elements. These elements, typically
curved, are assembled to make large structures. Typical applications
include aircraft fuselages, boat hulls, and the roofs of large buildings.
Assumption of Analysis:
1. Deflection under load are small.
2. Points on the normal to the middle surface deformation will remain on
the normal after deformation
3. Shear stresses normal to the middle surface can be neglected.

Results of membrane and bending theories are expressed in terms of unit

forces and unit moments, acting per unit of length over the thickness of
the shell. To compute the unit stresses from these forces and moments,
usual practice is to assume normal forces and shears to be uniformly
distributed over the shell thickness and bending stresses to be linearly
distributed. Then, normal stresses can be computed from equations of the
form:

where
z=distance
t=shell thickness
Mx= unit bending moment about an axis parallel to direction of unit normal
force Nx
Similarly, shearing stresses produced by central shears T and twisting
moments D may be calculated from equations of the form:

Normal shearing stresses may be computed on the assumption of a

parabolic stress distribution over the shell thickness:

where V=unit shear force normal to middle surface.

Q. Explain why folded plate roofs are economical.

What are high rise buildings? How do they resist horizontal forces like
wind and earthquake?

A. Folded plate structures are assemblies of flat plates, or slabs, inclined in

different directions and joined along their longitudinal edges. In this way
the structural system is capable of carrying loads without the need for
additional supporting beams along mutual edges.
Modern folded plate structures are typically made of cast in situ or
precast reinforced concrete, or steel plate.

They can provide a multitude of shapes and overall forms:

Prismatic: Rectangular plates.
Pyramidal: Non-rectangular plates.
Prismoidal: Triangular or trapezoidal plates.
There are several benefits of folded plate construction. They are simpler to
manufacture than other shells such as cylindrical shells, with relatively
simple formwork required, and usually use less material. However, folded
plates require more materials than curved shells since there is normally
more bending involved.
Folded plate structures have an intrinsic rigidity and high load-carrying
capacity which makes them economical over long spans that need to be
free of internal columns and other obstructions.
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
A building is an enclosed structure that has walls, floors, a roof, and
usually windows. A tall building is a multi-story structure in which most
occupants depend on elevators [lifts] to reach their destinations.
Introduction
Wind is essentially the large scale Horizontal movement of free air. It
plays an important role in design of tall structures because it exerts loads
on Building.
High Rise Building-A building Having height more then15m As per
National Building Code 2005 of India is called High Rise Building.

The materials used for the structural system of high-rise buildings

are reinforced
concrete and steel.
Most North
American style skyscrapers have a steel frame, while residential blocks are
usually constructed of concrete. There is no clear definition of any
difference between a tower block and a skyscraper, although a building
with fifty or more storeys is generally considered a skyscraper.
High-rise
structures
pose
particular
design
challenges
for structural and geotechnical engineers, particularly if situated in
a seismically active region or if the underlying soils have geotechnical risk
factors such as high compressibility.
EFFECT OF EARTHQUAKE ON HIGH RISE BUILDING
The RC frame participates in resisting earthquake forces. Earthquake
shaking generates inertia forces in the building, which are proportional to
the building mass. Since most of the building mass is present at the floor
levels, earthquake induced inertia forces primarily develop at the floor
levels.
These forces travel downward through slabs to beams, beams to columns
and walls and then to foundations from where they are dispersed to the
ground. As the inertia forces accumulate downward from the top of the
building, the columns and walls at the lower storey experience higher
earthquake induced forces and are therefore designed to be stronger than
the storey above.
An earthquake is the vibration, sometimes violent to the earths surface
that follows a release of energy in the earths crust. This energy can be
generated by a sudden dislocation of segments of the crust, by a volcanic
eruption or even by a manmade explosion.
In the process of breaking, vibrations called seismic waves are generated.
These waves travel outward from the source of the earthquake along the
surface and through the earth at varying speeds depending on the
material through which they move.
IMPOSED WIND LOAD:

Wind is a phenomenon of great complexity because of the many flow

situations arising from the interaction of wind with structures. Wind is
composed of a multitude of eddies of varying sizes and rotational
characteristics carried along in a general stream of air moving relative to
the earths surface. These eddies give wind its gusty or turbulent
character. The gustiness of strong winds in the lower levels of the
atmosphere largely arises from interaction with surface features. The
average wind speed over a time period of the order of ten minutes or
more, tends to increase with height, while the gustiness tends to decrease
with height. The wind vector at a point may be regarded as the sum of the
mean wind vector (static component) and a dynamic, or turbulence,
component
V ( ) z,t = V () ( ) z + v z,t (1)
The dynamic wind loads can be accurately estimated by means of a wind
tunnel study. This can result in a rationalisation of the structure and has
the potential to effect considerable savings in the cost of the structure.
Q. Discuss the merits and demerits of reinforced concrete
prestressed concrete.

and

A. REINFORCED CONCRETE
ADVANTAGES:
1. Reinforced concrete has a high compressive strength compared to other
building materials.

2. Due to the provided reinforcement, reinforced concrete can also withstand

a good amount tensile stress.
3. Fire and weather resistance of reinforced concrete is fair.
4. The reinforced concrete building system is more durable than any other
building system.
5. Reinforced concrete, as a fluid material in the beginning, can be
economically molded into a nearly limitless range of shapes.
6. The maintenance cost of reinforced concrete is very low.
7. In structure like footings, dams, piers etc. reinforced concrete is the most
economical construction material.
8. It acts like a rigid member with minimum deflection.
9. As reinforced concrete can be molded to any shape required, it is widely
used in precast structural components. It yields rigid members with
minimum apparent deflection.
10.Compared to the use of steel in structure, reinforced concrete requires less
skilled labor for the erection of structure.
DISADVANTAGES:
1. The tensile strength of reinforced concrete is about one-tenth of its
compressive strength.
2. The main steps of using reinforced concrete are mixing, casting, and
curing. All of this affect the final strength.
3. The cost of the forms used for casting RC is relatively higher.
4. For multi-storied building the RCC column section for is larger than steel
section as the compressive strength is lower in the case of RCC.
5. Shrinkage causes crack development and strength loss.

PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
ADVANTAGES:
1.

The size or dimensions of structural members are reduced, which may

increase the clearances or reduce storey heights.

2.

It permits the use of large spans (greater than 30 m) with shallow

members, even when heavy load are encountered.

3.

In addition to general advantages, such as excellent fire resistance, low

maintenance costs, elegance, high corrosion-resistance, adaptability etc, the
prestressed concrete is found to sustain the effects of impact or shock and
vibrations.

4.

Because of smaller loads due to smaller dimensions being used, there is

considerable saving cost of supporting members and foundations.

5.

The prestressing technique has eliminated the weakness of concrete in

tension and hence crack free members of structure are obtained.

6.

Because of better material (i.e. controlled concrete and high tension steel)
being used and nullifying the effect of dead loads, smaller deflections are
caused.

DISADVANTAGES:

1.
2.

The unit cost of high strength materials being used is higher.

Extra initial cost is incurred due to use of prestressing equipment and its
installation.

3.

Extra labour cost for prestressing is also there.

4.

Prestressing is uneconomical for short spans and light loads.

Q. What are space frames? How are they useful in structures?

A. n architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space
structure is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from
interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span
large areas with few interior supports. Like the truss, a space frame is strong
because
of
the
inherent
rigidity
of
the
triangle;
flexing loads (bending moments)
are
transmitted
as tension and compression loads along the length of each strut.

Q. Explain tensile structures. What are the weaknesses of tensile

structures?
A.

A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and no

compression or bending. The term tensile should not be confused with
tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression
elements. Tensile structures are the most common type of thinshell structures.
Types of structures:

Linear structures

Three-dimensional structures
Surface-stressed structures

WEAKNESSES:

Uniqueness of each project: The form of this membranes needs to be

calculated for each project by engineers, and specially in more
complicated projects it can increase the time and cost
Cost issue: Material is not expensive and construction can be easy, but as
this projects are unique, they need of very expertized professionals, both
engineers and architects, so the cost is increased a lot.
Lack of design guidance: This material is quite new compared with
commonly used materials as steel or concrete. Because of that, there is a
lack of design guidance.

Q. Explain how a cable stayed structure is superior to suspended

structure.

A. Cables - good resistance in tension, but no strength in compression

Tent: a cable structure consisting of a waterproofing membrane
supported by ropes or cables and posts cables must be maintained in
tension by prestressing in order to avoid large vibrations under wind forces
and avoid collapse
In the bridge engineering, our designer pay more attention to equilibrium of
forces
in
structure.
The different transmission way of force is key to this problem. Cable-stayed
bridges may look similar to suspension bridgesboth have roadways that
hang from cables and both have towers. But the two bridges support the load
of the roadway in very different ways. The difference lies in how the cables
are connected to the towers. In suspension bridges, the cables ride freely
across the towers, transmitting the load to the anchorages at either end. In
cable-stayed bridges, the cables are attached to the towers, which alone
bear the load.

The cable-stayed bridge has the advantage of not requiring massive

anchorages at the ends of the cables. Suspension bridges require anchorages
strong enough for the tension, or angular pulling, on the suspension cables.
Solid rock or a large mass of stable concrete is the preferred geological base
for an anchorage. These massive anchorages carry the entire weight of the
bridge, and their weight must exceed the combined weight of the bridge and
the vehicular load.