TCV 4213: Analysis of Structures I

Prerequisites: None
Purpose: The course will provide the necessary analytical foundation and engineering
insight on the behavior of determinate structures.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, the student should be able to;
i. Develop the understanding of basic principles used in the analysis of determinate
structures
ii. Carry out structural analyses on trusses, beams, cables, arches and simple frames

Content
Introduction to types of structures, support conditions and loading. Introduction to statics;
force polygons, structural forms. Structural idealization. Concept of free body. Analysis of
statically indeterminate structures: Axial force structures-trusses; methods of joints,
methods of sections, methods of tension coefficients, graphical analysis. Truss displacement by
virtual force method, graphical method. The arch. The cable beams: types of beams and
loadings; shear force and bending moment diagram in relation to intensity of loading,
deflection curve. Analysis of simple beams and frames: the concept of virtual work, virtual force
method, moment area method. Influence lines for statically determinate structures.
Laboratory: Determining Shear force, Experiments for Bending moments, Tension test

Mode of Delivery
The mode of delivery shall consist of the following delivery methods: Talks by selected
professionals, assigned readings of relevant materials, audio-visual presentation, group/class
discussions.
Instructional Materials/Equipment
White board, handouts: soft and hard copies, power point presentation, overhead projector
presentations, audio-visual presentation on screens and speakers, library books and linkages.

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Course Assessment:
Continuous assessments, group and individual research and presentations, and end of semester
examination. Continuous assessment 40% and final examination 60%.

Core Textbooks
i. Hibbeler, R.C., (2014), Structural Analysis (9th edition) Pearson, ISBN-10: 0133942848,
ISBN-13: 978-0133942842
ii. Mott, R.L., Untener, J.A. (2016). Applied Strength of Materials, 6th Edition, Prentice
Hall, London, ISBN-10: 149871675X, ISBN-13: 978-1498716758.
iii. Karl – Gunnar, O. and Dahlblom, O. (2016). Structural Mechanics: Modelling and
Analysis of Frames and Trusses, 344 p, Published by Wiley, ISBN: 978 – 1-119-15933-9.

Recommended Textbooks
i. Geere, J.M., Goodno, B.J., (2012). Mechanics of Materials (8th. edition), CL
Engineering. ISBN-10: 1111577730, ISBN-13: 978-1111577735
ii) Marti, P. (2013). Theory of Structures, Fundamentals, Framed Structures, Plates and
Shells, 680 p, ISBN: 978-3-433-02991-6.
iii) Trahair, N. S., Bradford, M . and Wales, D. A. ( 2012). The behavior and
design of Steel, ISBN 978–0–415–30156–5/ ISBN 978–0–415–30157–2

Core Journals:
i. Kharchenko, V., V. (2015). Journal of Strength of Materials, ISSN: 0039-2316 (print
version) and ISSN: 1573-9325 (electronic version).
ii. Tamuzs, V., P. (2016). Journal on Mechanics of Composite Materials, ISSN: 0191-
5665(Print), 1573-8922 (Online).
iii. Vibration Analysis of Structures by Component Mode Substitution, ISSN: 0001-1452.

Recommended Journals:
i. Journal on Mechanics of Composite Materials, ISSN: 0191-5665 (Print), 1573-8922
(Online).
ii. Journal of Strength of Materials, ISSN: 0039-2316 (print version) and ISSN: 1573-9325

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 (electronic version).
iii. Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, ISSN: 1537-6494 Online ISSN: 1537-
6532.

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 A. Introduction to types of structures, support conditions and loading

Introduction and history of structural analysis

Structural analysis is the prediction of the performance of a given structure under prescribed loads
and/or other external effects, such as support movements and temperature changes.
The performance characteristics commonly of interest in the design of structures are
(1) Stresses or stress resultants, such as axial forces, shear forces, and bending moments;
(2) Deflections; and
(3) Support reactions.
Thus, the analysis of a structure usually involves determination of these quantities as caused by a
given loading condition.
Since the dawn of history, structural engineering has been an essential part of human endeavour.
However, it was not until about the middle of the seventeenth century that, Engineers began
applying the knowledge of mechanics (mathematics and science) in designing structures. Earlier
engineering structures were designed by trial and error and by using rules of thumb based on past
experience. The fact that some of the magnificent structures from earlier eras, such as Egyptian
pyramids (about 3000 BC.), Greek temples (500–200 BC.), Roman coliseums and aqueducts (200
BC.– AD 200), and Gothic cathedrals (BC 1000–1500), still stand today is a testimonial to the
ingenuity of their builders.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) is generally considered to be the originator of the theory of structures.
In his book entitled Two New Sciences, which was published in 1638, Galileo analysed the failure
of some simple structures, including cantilever beams. Although Galileo’s predictions of strengths
of beams were only approximate, his work laid the foundation for future developments in the
theory of structures and ushered in a new era of structural engineering, in which the analytical
principles of mechanics and strength of materials would have a major influence on the design of
structures.
Following Galileo’s pioneering work, the knowledge of structural mechanics advanced at a rapid
pace in the second half of the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century. Among the
notable investigators of that period were Robert Hooke (1635–1703), who developed the law of
linear relationships between the force and deformation of materials (Hooke’s law); Sir Isaac
Newton (1642–1727), who formulated the laws of motion and developed calculus; John Bernoulli

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(1667– 1748), who formulated the principle of virtual work; Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), who
developed the theory of buckling of columns; and C. A. de Coulomb (1736–1806), who presented
the analysis of bending of elastic beams. In 1826 L. M. Navier (1785–1836) published a treatise
on elastic behaviour of structures, which is considered to be the first textbook on the modern theory
of strength of materials. The development of structural mechanics continued at a tremendous pace
throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and into the first half of the twentieth, when most of
the classical methods for the analysis of structures described in this text were developed.
The important contributors of this period included B. P. Clapeyron (1799–1864), who formulated
the three-moment equation for the analysis of continuous beams; J. C. Maxwell (1831–1879),
who presented the method of consistent deformations and the law of reciprocal deflections;
Otto Mohr (1835–1918), who developed the conjugate-beam method for calculation of
deflections and Mohr’s circles of stress and strain; Alberto Castigliano (1847–1884), who
formulated the theorem of least work; C. E. Greene (1842–1903), who developed the moment-
area method; H. Muller-Breslau (1851–1925), who presented a principle for constructing
influence lines; G. A. Maney (1888– 1947), who developed the slope-deflection method, which
is considered to be the precursor of the matrix stiffness method; and Hardy Cross (1885–1959),
who developed the moment-distribution method in 1924. The moment-distribution method
provided engineers with a simple iterative procedure for analyzing highly statically indeterminate
structures. This method, which was the most widely used by structural engineers during the period
from about 1930 to 1970, contributed significantly to their understanding of the behaviour of
statically indeterminate frames. Many structures designed during that period, such as high-rise
buildings, would not have been possible without the availability of the moment distribution
method. The availability of computers in the 1950s revolutionized structural analysis. Because the
computer could solve large systems of simultaneous equations, analyses that took days and
sometimes weeks in the pre computer era could now be performed in seconds. The development
of the current computer-oriented methods of structural analysis can be attributed to, among others,
J. H.Argyris, R. W. Clough, S. Kelsey,R. K. Livesley, H. C. Martin, M. T. Turner, E. L. Wilson,
and O. C. Zienkiewicz.

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Role of structural analysis in structural engineering projects

Structural Engineering is the science and art of planning, designing, and constructing safe and
economical structures that will serve their intended purposes. Structural analysis is an integral part
of any structural Engineering project, its function being the prediction of the performance of the
proposed structure. Figure 1.1 indicates the process is an iterative one, and it generally consists of
the following steps:

1. Planning Phase – The planning phase usually involves the establishment of the functional
requirements of the proposed structure, the general layout and dimensions of the structure,
consideration of the possible types of structures (e.g., rigid frame or truss) that may be feasible and
the types of materials to be used (e.g., structural steel or reinforced concrete). This phase may also
involve consideration of non-structural factors, such as aesthetics, environmental impact of the
structure, and so on. The outcome of this phase is usually a structural system that meets the
functional requirements and is expected to be the most economical. This phase is perhaps the most
crucial one of the entire project and requires experience and knowledge of construction practices
in addition to a thorough understanding of the behavior of structures.

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 Figure 1: Phases of Structural Engineering Project

2. Preliminary Structural Design – In the preliminary structural design phase, the sizes of the
various members of the structural system selected in the planning phase are estimated based on
approximate analysis, past experience, and code requirements. The member sizes thus selected are
used in the next phase to estimate the weight of the structure.

3. Estimation of Loads – Estimation of loads involves determination of all the loads that can be
expected to act on the structure.

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4. Structural Analysis – In structural analysis, the values of the loads are used to carry out an
analysis of the structure in order to determine the stresses or stress resultants in the members and
the deflections at various points of the structure.

5. Safety and Serviceability – Checks the results of the analysis are used to determine whether or
not the structure satisfies the safety and serviceability requirements of the design codes. If these
requirements are satisfied, then the design drawings and the construction specifications are
prepared, and the construction phase begins.

6. Revised Structural – Design If the code requirements are not satisfied, then the member sizes
are revised, and phases 3 through 5 are repeated until all the safety and serviceability requirements
are satisfied.

STRUCTURES

There are various types of structures in the world such as bridges, residential building, government
building, parking building, educational building, religious building, industrial building, power
stations, commercial electrical powers, etc. The structures constructed from many materials
reinforced concrete, steel, stainless steel, aluminum and wood

1. CLASSIFICATION OF STRUCTURES

Commonly used structures can be classified into five basic categories, depending on the type of
primary stresses that may develop in their members under major design loads. However, it should
be realized that any two or more of the basic structural types described in the following may be
combined in a single structure, such as a building or a bridge, to meet the structure’s functional
requirements.

i) Tension Structures

The members of tension structures are subjected to pure tension under the action of external loads.
Because the tensile stress is distributed uniformly over the cross-sectional areas of members, the
material of such a structure is utilized in the most efficient manner. Tension structures composed

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of flexible steel cables are frequently employed to support bridges and long-span roofs. Because
of their flexibility, cables have negligible bending stiffness and can develop only tension. Thus,
under external loads, a cable adopts a shape that enables it to support the load by tensile forces
alone. In other words, the shape of a cable changes as the loads acting on it change. In a suspension
bridge, the roadway is suspended from two main cables by means of vertical hangers. The main
cables pass over a pair of towers and are anchored into solid rock or a concrete foundation at their
ends. Because suspension bridges and other cable structures lack stiffness in lateral directions, they
are susceptible to wind-induced oscillations. Bracing or stiffening systems are therefore provided
to reduce such oscillations. Besides cable structures, other examples of tension structures include
vertical rods used as hangers (for example, to support balconies or tanks) and membrane structures
such as tents.

Tension Structures

Suspension Bridge

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 ii) Compression Structures

Compression structures develop mainly compressive stresses under the action of external loads.
Two common examples of such structures are columns and arches. Columns are straight members
subjected to axially compressive loads. When a straight member is subjected to lateral loads and/or
moments in addition to axial loads, it is called a beam-column. An arch is a curved structure, with
a shape similar to that of an inverted cable. Such structures are frequently used to support bridges
and long-span roofs. Arches develop mainly compressive stresses when subjected to loads and are
usually designed so that they will develop only compression under a major design loading.
However, because arches are rigid and cannot change their shapes as can cables, other loading
conditions usually produce secondary bending and shear stresses in these structures, which, if
significant, should be considered in their designs. Because compression structures are susceptible
to buckling or instability, the possibility of such a failure should be considered in their designs; if
necessary, adequate bracing must be provided to avoid such failures.

Arch

iii) Trusses

Trusses are composed of straight members connected at their ends by hinged connections to form
a stable configuration. When the loads are applied to a truss only at the joints, its members either
elongate or shorten. Thus, the members of an ideal truss are always either in uniform tension or in
uniform compression. Real trusses are usually constructed by connecting members to gusset plates
by bolted or welded connections. Although the rigid joints thus formed cause some bending in the
members of a truss when it is loaded, in most cases such secondary bending stresses are small, and

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the assumption of hinged joints yields satisfactory designs. Trusses, because of their light weight
and high strength, are among the most commonly used types of structures. Such structures are used
in a variety of applications, ranging from supporting roofs of buildings to serving as support
structures in space stations.

Plane Truss

iv) Shear Structures

Shear structures, such as reinforced concrete shear walls, are used in multi-storey buildings to
reduce lateral movements due to wind loads and earthquake excitations. Shear structures develop
mainly in plane shear, with relatively small bending stresses under the action of external loads

Shear Wall

v) Bending (Flexural) Structures

Bending structures develop mainly bending stresses under the action of external loads. In some
structures, the shear stresses associated with the changes in bending moments may also be
significant and should be considered in their designs. Some of the most commonly used structures,
such as beams, rigid frames, slabs, and plates, can be classified as bending structures. A beam is a
straight member that is loaded perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. Recall from previous courses
on statics and mechanics of materials that the bending (normal) stress varies linearly over the depth

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of a beam from the maximum compressive stress at the fiber farthest from the neutral axis on the
concave side of the bent beam to the maximum tensile stress at the outermost fiber on the convex
side. For example, in the case of a horizontal beam subjected to a vertically downward load, the
bending stress varies from the maximum compressive stress at the top edge to the maximum tensile
stress at the bottom edge of the beam. To utilize the material of a beam cross section most
efficiently under this varying stress distribution, the cross sections of beams are often I-shaped,
with most of the material in the top and bottom flanges.

Figure 2: Beam

B. Stages of Building the Structures

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 1. Architectural Layout
This stage is carried out by an architect and in this stage; the structure is planed according the
usage and the requirements of the building owners.
2. Structural Model and Behavior of structural Model
These two stages are called structural analysis. In the structural analysis processes stage, the
loads on the structure and the structural model are indicated. Then the responses of the real
structure under the excitation of expected loading and external environment during the service
life of the structure is predicted. This is done by Engineer.
3. Structural Design
In this stage, the type of used material is indicated, the amount of the used material are
calculated. This is done by Engineer.
4. Construction
In this stage, the building becomes real. This stage passes through several stages such as
construction footing, column, beam, etc.
Figure 2.1illustrates the above procedure.

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 Figure 3: Flow chart structural stages

C. Structural Loads

Loads are the force that influence on the structures. The loads on the structures are divided
into:-
a) Dead loads: These loads are with a constant magnitude and remain in one position
during the service life of the structures. They include the one weight of the structures
and the loads that are permanently attached to the structures; floor covering.
b) Live loads: These loads very in their position and their magnitude may change. The
live load included the weight of the persons, furniture, wind loads, earthquake loads,
loads of trucks and cranes.
The two loads can be modeled (structural model) by concentrated loads, uniformly distributed
loads or, uniformly varying loads.

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 a) Concentrated loads

Figure 4: Concentrated loads

These are

b) Uniformly distributed loads

These are

Figure 5: Uniformly distributed loads

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 c) Uniformly varying loads.

Figure 6: uniformly varying loads

These are

D. Components of the Structures

The structure composes of some components as illustrated in Fig.7. Each component subjects
to loads and it transfers these loads to the next components (supports).
1. Slab: The first component is the slab. The slab subjected to its own weight, the floor covering
and the live load and it supports on the beam. It was modeled by area as shown in Fig. 8.
2. Beam: The beams subject to their own weight and the load from slab. The beam supports
on columns and it was modeled by line. This line has start and end points. These points were
called nodes or joints as presented in Fig. 9
3. Columns: The column is the support of the beam and it modeled as the beam.
4. Footing: The footing transfers load from the structure through the column to the soil. It was
simulated by area as slab.

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 Figure 7: Structure components

Figure 8: Beam model

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 Figure 9: Slab model

E. Supports/Joints
There are four types of supports or joints in structures. These supports are determined according
to the type of the analysis and construction.
1. Movable or Roller Support:
This support is constructed to permit a movement parallel to the supporting surface. It transfers
only a single reaction perpendicular to the support surface. The roller support is presented in Fig.10

Figure 10: Roller support

2. Hinged or Pin Support

This support prevents movement in a horizontal and vertical direction and on the other hand it

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permits rotation about the support. Hinged support transfers three reactions perpendicular to the
support surface. The connection between the slab of the bridges and the retaining walls may be
constructed to make the retaining wall is a hinged support to the bridge slab. Also you can see the
hinged support in the connection between the beam and column. The column is a hinged support
to the column because the reinforcements of the column do not insert the beam. The pin support
is presented in Fig. 11.

Figure 11: Details of Hinged/ Pin joint

3. Fixed Support
This support does not allow the movements in all directions; x, y and z and rotation about x, y
and z direction. This support transfers three reactions perpendicular to the support surface and
three bending moments. The reinforcements of the concrete column were inserted in the

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 footing so that the footing is fixed support to the column. This support is indicated in Fig. 12

Figure 12: Details of fixed joint

4. Link support
This support like the beam with hinged support at one end and intermediate hinge at the
second end.

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 REACTIONS
Introduction
A structure must be designed to resist all the forces that act on it. If the structure cannot resist
these forces, it may collapse as shown in Fig. 13. So an Engineer must calculate the external
forces acted on the structures and indicate the behavior of the structures under these loads
(internal forces).

Figure 13: Structure collapses

Reactions
Loads or applied forces referred to the load that have the tendency to move the structure (dead
load, live load and so on). The reactions are forces exerted by supports of the structure and they
are those forces applied to the structure to counteract the action of the applied force (they prevent
its motion and keep it in equilibrium). The reactions are usually among the unknowns to be
determined by analysis. To identify any force completely, there are three unknowns to that must
be determined; the force magnitude, direction and the line of action of the force. If a support
prevents translation of body in a given direction, a force is developed on the body in that direction.
This means that a support that prevents translation of the structure in a particular direction creates

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a reaction force on the structure in that direction. Also the support prevents rotation of the structure
about a particular axis creates a reaction couple on the structure about that axis. All the types of
the supports are presented in table 2.1. From table 2.1, it can be seen that for roller support, the
magnitude of reaction force that acts perpendicular to the supporting surface is unknown and it
may be directed either away from or into the structure. Also for the hinged support the reactions
consist of two components Y and X and the magnitude of the two components are unknown.
Additionally the fixed support prevents the translation in x, y and one rotation about z direction so
that it has three unknown components; X, Y and M. For the link support, the reaction force R
Chapter (2): REACTIONS 12 Ass. Pr. Eltaly, B. is unknown and this force acts in the direction of
the link and may be directed either into or away from the structure.

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