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STRUCTURAL
MECHANICS
STRUCTURAL
MECHANICS
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS
OF FRAMES AND TRUSSES

Karl-Gunnar Olsson
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Ola Dahlblom
Lund University, Sweden
This edition first published 2016
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Registered office
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom
For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for
permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com.
The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olsson, Karl-Gunnar, author.
Structural mechanics : modelling and analysis of frames and trusses / Karl-Gunnar Olsson, Ola Dahlblom.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-119-15933-9 (pbk.)
1. Trusses–Design and construction. 2. Structural frames–Design and construction. 3. Trusses–Mathematical
models. 4. Structural frames–Mathematical models. 5. Structural analysis (Engineering)–Mathematics. I. Dahlblom,
Ola, author. II. Title.
TA660.T8O47 2016
624.1′ 773–dc23
2015028041
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10/12pt TimesLTStd by SPi Global, Chennai, India

1 2016
Contents

Preface ix

1 Matrix Algebra 1
1.1 Definitions 1
1.2 Addition and Subtraction 2
1.3 Multiplication 2
1.4 Determinant 3
1.5 Inverse Matrix 3
1.6 Counting Rules 4
1.7 Systems of Equations 4
1.7.1 Systems of Equations with Only Unknown Components in the Vector 𝐚 5
1.7.2 Systems of Equations with Known and Unknown Components in the
Vector 𝐚 6
1.7.3 Eigenvalue Problems 8
Exercises 10

2 Systems of Connected Springs 13

2.1 Spring Relations 16
2.2 Spring Element 16
2.3 Systems of Springs 17
Exercises 30

3 Bars and Trusses 31

3.1 The Differential Equation for Bar Action 33
3.1.1 Definitions 33
3.1.2 The Material Level 35
3.1.3 The Cross-Section Level 38
3.1.4 Bar Action 41
3.2 Bar Element 43
3.2.1 Definitions 43
3.2.2 Solving the Differential Equation 43
3.2.3 From Local to Global Coordinates 51
3.3 Trusses 55
Exercises 66
vi Contents

4 Beams and Frames 71

4.1 The Differential Equation for Beam Action 73
4.1.1 Definitions 73
4.1.2 The Material Level 74
4.1.3 The Cross-Section Level 75
4.1.4 Beam Action 78
4.2 Beam Element 80
4.2.1 Definitions 81
4.2.2 Solving the Differential Equation for Beam Action 81
4.2.3 Beam Element with Six Degrees of Freedom 90
4.2.4 From Local to Global Directions 92
4.3 Frames 95
Exercises 109

5 Modelling at the System Level 115

5.1 Symmetry Properties 116
5.2 The Structure and the System of Equations 120
5.2.1 The Deformations and Displacements of the System 121
5.2.2 The Forces and Equilibria of the System 130
5.2.3 The Stiffness of the System 132
5.3 Structural Design and Simplified Manual Calculations 144
5.3.1 Characterising Structures 144
5.3.2 Axial and Bending Stiffness 145
5.3.3 Reducing the Number of Degrees of Freedom 147
5.3.4 Manual Calculation Using Elementary Cases 149
Exercises 151

6 Flexible Supports 157

6.1 Flexible Supports at Nodes 157
6.2 Foundation on Flexible Support 159
6.2.1 The Constitutive Relations of the Connection Point 159
6.2.2 The Constitutive Relation of the Base Surface 161
6.2.3 Constitutive Relation for the Support Point of the Structure 163
6.3 Bar with Axial Springs 165
6.3.1 The Differential Equation for Bar Action with Axial Springs 165
6.3.2 Bar Element 167
6.4 Beam on Elastic Spring Foundation 171
6.4.1 The Differential Equation for Beam Action with Transverse Springs 171
6.4.2 Beam Element 173
Exercises 180

7 Three-Dimensional Structures 183

7.1 Three-Dimensional Bar Element 186
7.2 Three-Dimensional Trusses 188
7.3 The Differential Equation for Torsional Action 194
Contents vii

7.3.1 Definitions 194

7.3.2 The Material Level 195
7.3.3 The Cross-Section Level 197
7.3.4 Torsional Action 202
7.4 Three-Dimensional Beam Element 203
7.4.1 Element for Torsional Action 204
7.4.2 Beam Element with 12 Degrees of Freedom 205
7.4.3 From Local to Global Directions 206
7.5 Three-Dimensional Frames 209
Exercises 213

8 Flows in Networks 217

8.1 Heat Transport 219
8.1.1 Definitions 219
8.1.2 The Material Level 222
8.1.3 The Cross-Section Level 224
8.1.4 The Equation for Heat Conduction 225
8.1.5 Convection and Radiation 227
8.2 Element for Heat Transport 229
8.2.1 Definitions 230
8.2.2 Solving the Heat Conduction Equation 230
8.3 Networks of One-Dimensional Heat-Conducting Elements 235
8.4 Analogies 242
8.4.1 Diffusion – Fick’s Law 242
8.4.2 Liquid Flow in Porous Media – Darcy’s Law 243
8.4.3 Laminar Pipe Flow – Poiseuille’s Law 244
8.4.4 Electricity – Ohm’s Law 245
8.4.5 Summary 246
Exercises 247

9 Geometrical Non-Linearity 251

9.1 Methods of Calculation 252
9.2 Trusses with Geometrical Non-Linearity Considered 255
9.2.1 The Differential Equation for Bar Action 256
9.2.2 Bar Element 257
9.2.3 Trusses 260
9.3 Frames with Geometrical Non-Linearity Considered 262
9.3.1 The Differential Equation for Beam Action 262
9.3.2 Beam Element 265
9.3.3 Frames 274
9.4 Three-Dimensional Geometric Non-Linearity 277
Exercises 278

10 Material Non-Linearity 281

10.1 Calculation Procedures 282
10.2 Elastic–Perfectly Plastic Material 284
viii Contents

10.3 Trusses with Material Non-Linearity Considered 285

10.4 Frames with Material Non-Linearity Considered 289
Exercises 298

Appendix A Notations 301

Appendix B Answers to the Exercises 303

Index 323
Preface

The autumn sun shines on Sunnibergbrücke at Klosters in the canton of Graubünden in

south-western Switzerland. On the cover picture one can sense how the bridge elegantly
migrates through the landscape. The steel and concrete structure and the architecture merge
into one of the most elegant buildings of our time. The engineer who designed the bridge is
named Christian Menn. It is late in October 2009, and a group of Swedish students sketch,
photograph and enthusiastically discuss the shape and the structural behaviour of the bridge.
In a week they will start a course in structural mechanics.
Structural mechanics is the branch of physics that describes how different materials, which
have been shaped and joined together to structures, carry their loads. Knowledge on the modes
of action of these structures can be used in different contexts and for different purposes. The
Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius, who lived during the first century BC summarises
in the work De architectura libri decem (‘Ten books on architecture’) the art of building
with the three classical notions of firmitas, utilitas and venustas (strength, functionality and
beauty). Engineering of our time has basically the same goal. It is about utilising the knowl-
edge and practices of our time in a creative process where sustainable and efficient, functional
and expressive buildings are designed.
At an early design stage a structural engineer needs to be trained to see how to efficiently
use material and shape to provide the construction with stability, stiffness and strength. Using
simple models, structural behaviour can be evaluated and cross-section sizes estimated. As
the design develops the need for precision of the analyses increases. In all this, the ability to
formulate computational models and to carry out simulations is of crucial importance.
A useful computational model should be simple enough to be easily manageable and, simul-
taneously, sufficiently complex to provide an adequate accuracy. In recent years, the finite
element method has become the dominant method for formulating computational models and
conducting analyses. The FE method is based on expressing forces and deformations as dis-
crete entities in a chosen and representative set of degrees of freedom. Between the degrees
of freedom simple bodies (elements) are placed and together they constitute the structure to
be modelled. Each element may describe a unique mode of action and can be given a specific
geometry. In all this, FEM provides opportunities for both accurate analyses of structures with
complex geometry and material behaviour, and for quick estimates in early design stages.
Here, we present a new textbook in structural mechanics, dealing with the modelling
and analysis of trusses and frames. The textbook is based on the finite element method.
Gradually, an understanding of basic elements of structural mechanics – springs, bars, beams,
foundations and so on is built up. Methods for assembling them into complex load-bearing
x Preface

structures are presented, and tools for analysis and simulation are provided. The book has
been limited to treating trusses and frames in two and three dimensions. To demonstrate
the generality of the methodology the book also has a chapter, ‘Flows in Networks’, that
addresses other areas of applied mechanics, including thermal conduction and electrical flow.
The textbook supports three kinds of learning outcome:

• Knowledge of basic theory of structural mechanics. The textbook has a structure that high-
lights the theory as a whole. Different modes of action in structural mechanics are described
in a common format where basic concepts and relationships recur at different scale levels.
One aim is to highlight the mechanisms that determine how structures carry their loads
and how we by this knowledge can manipulate the distribution of internal forces as well as
patterns of deformations.
• Skills in modelling and analysis of structures. Being able to describe a structure by a math-
ematical model and perform computations is one of the most important engineering skills.
The matrix-based presentation of the textbook practices a computation methodology that
is general and can be applied for phenomena and geometries of structural mechanics as
well as for simulations in a variety of engineering areas far beyond the textbook limitations.
Through exercises and with support from the computer program Matlab/CALFEM students
in a course formulate about 30 computer algorithms of their own, each with increasing
complexity.
• Ability to evaluate and optimise designs proposed. Having an eye trained for patterns of
forces and deformations helps to evaluate and improve the efficiency of structural designs.
This facilitates modification of the design of a structure in the desired direction, thus creating
an efficient structural behaviour, for example by reducing bending in the favour of axial only
forces – compression and tension.

The textbook is intended for engineering students at the bachelor level. The presentation
assumes knowledge of calculus in one variable, linear algebra, classical mechanics and basic
solid/structural mechanics. Chapters 1–5 are a unit and should be read in the order they appear,
while Chapters 6–10 are independent of each other and can be read in any order. For a limited
course, we recommend primarily Chapters 1–6.
The Division of Structural Mechanics at Lund University has a long tradition in the devel-
opment of teaching materials in structural mechanics and the finite element method. A key
person behind this development is Hans Petersson who came to the division as a professor
in 1977. Within a few years, a group of young Ph.D. students and teachers gathered around
Hans, taking note of his knowledge and absorbed his enthusiasm about teaching and its tools.
We were two of them. Earlier, the framework of the computer program CALFEM (Computer
Aided Learning of the Finite Element Method) was developed, and based on his concept the
textbook ‘Konstruktionsberäkningar med dator’ (Design calculations using a computer) was
written with Sven Thelandersson as author. In this spirit, the division has continued to develop
teaching materials, and approaches. In more than 30 years time, both ideas and collaborators
spread. CALFEM is today a toolbox to the computer program Matlab and is used worldwide. In
Sweden, collaboration between Lund University, Chalmers and KTH Royal Institute of Tech-
nology has been established, and from the site www.structarch.org, CALFEM as well as other
software for structural mechanics analysis and conceptual design can be downloaded free of
charge.
Preface xi

The contents of this textbook have been developed over many years and there are many stu-
dents and colleagues at Lund University, Chalmers and Linnæus University, who contributed
with ideas, suggestions, corrections and translations during the creation of the book. We would
particularly like to mention Professor Per-Erik Austrell, Dr. Henrik Danielsson, Dr. Susanne
Heyden and Professor Kent Persson at Structural Mechanics in Lund, Dr. Mats Ander and
Dr. Peter Möller at Applied Mechanics at Chalmers and Ms. Louise Blyberg and Profes-
sor Anders Olsson at Linnæus University in Växjö. Professor Emeritus Bengt Åkesson at
Chalmers has with great precision and sharpness examined facts of the manuscript and given
us reason to examine and modify the conceptual choices and formulations. Dr. Samar Malek
has thoroughly proofread the English version of the text. Mr. Bo Zadig at Structural Mechanics
in Lund has skilfully drawn the figures. Sincere thanks to all of you for your commitment and
wise observations. And to Professor Göran Sandberg who with his character, his knowledge
and in his role as head of the department has built and continues to build a creative envi-
ronment for the teaching and development of teaching concepts and tools. We want to thank
people at John Wiley & Sons and their partners for cooperation and guidance. In particular we
are grateful to Eric Willner, Anne Hunt, Clive Lawson and Lincy Priya.
The textbook is also available in Swedish, with the reverse order of authors.

Karl-Gunnar Olsson and Ola Dahlblom

Gothenburg and Lund in October 2015
1
Matrix Algebra

The method used in this textbook to formulate computational models is characterised by the
use of matrices. The different quantities – load, section force, stiffness and displacement – are
separated and gathered into groups of numbers. All load values are gathered in a load matrix
and all stiffnesses in a stiffness matrix. This is one of the primary strengths of the method. With
a matrix formulation, the formulae describing the relations between quantities are compact and
easy to view. Physical mechanisms and underlying principles become clear. We begin with a
short summary of the matrix algebra and the notations that are used.

1.1 Definitions
A matrix consists of a set of matrix elements ordered in rows and columns. If the matrix consists
of only one column it is referred to as a column matrix and if it has only one row it is referred
to as a row matrix. Such matrices are one-dimensional and may also be referred to as vectors.
A vector is denoted by a lower case letter set in bold:
⎡a1 ⎤
a = ⎢a2 ⎥ (1.1)
⎢ ⎥
⎣a3 ⎦
where a1 , a2 and a3 are the components of the vector. A two-dimensional matrix is denoted by
a capital letter set in bold:

⎡A11 A12 A13 ⎤

⎡B11 B12 B13 ⎤
⎢A A22 A23 ⎥
A = ⎢ 21 B = ⎢B21 B23 ⎥
A33 ⎥
; B22 (1.2)
A
⎢ 31
A32
⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣A41 A42 A43 ⎦ ⎣B31 B32 B33 ⎦

where A11 , A12 and so on are elements of the matrix A. An arbitrary component of a matrix
is denoted Aij , where the first index refers to the row number and the second index to the
column number. The matrix A in (1.2) has the dimensions 4 × 3 and the matrix B has the
dimensions 3 × 3.

Structural Mechanics: Modelling and Analysis of Frames and Trusses, First Edition.
Karl-Gunnar Olsson and Ola Dahlblom.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 The post oak is found from Southern Massachusetts—on Cape
Cod, on the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Naushon—to Northern
Florida and, in certain localities, west to Eastern Kansas.
A large tree, 70 to 80 and (rarely) 150 feet high.
Black Oak Bark thick, rough, and dark. Twigs smooth, with a
Quercus bitter taste. Alternate leaf-scars. Buds very downy,
velutina
sharp-pointed, and large. The acorns are set in a
deep, conspicuously scaly cup. The kernel is bitter.
 BLACK OAK
Quercus velutina
Page 92

The black oak is distinguished by its rough, dark outer bark and
rich yellow inner bark (which is seen when a small cut is made with
a penknife), and its downy pointed buds. On young trees as well as
old ones, the bark is very rough at the base of the trunk, and this
roughness extends upwards in old trees.
The round, thin, brittle balls found on black oaks and known as
oak-apples are produced by an insect which injures the leaf by
puncturing it and depositing an egg. This causes irritation and an
abnormal growth, from which the apple is formed. The grub which
lives inside this excrescence becomes a chrysalis in the autumn, and
changes to a fly in the spring, when it gnaws its way out by making
a little hole through the shell.
The wood of the black oak is heavy, hard, and strong, but not
tough, and it is liable to check in drying. The bark is rich in tannin,
and it makes a yellow dye,—quercitron,—obtained from the inner
bark. Used medicinally the bark is an astringent.
The specific name, velutina, was taken originally from the Latin
word vellus, meaning shorn wool, and was applied by botanists to
this tree on account of the fleecy character of the recent stems and
leaves. The black oak is found growing throughout New England and
in the South and West.
A large tree, 60 to 150 feet high. The bark is
Red Oak fissured in long clefts, with broad, smooth places
Quercus rubra between, giving the trunk a fluted column effect.
Large, sharp-pointed buds, with close scales. The
red oak buds resemble to some extent those of the chestnut oak,
but there is a fine hair on the scales of the red oak buds, while the
scales of the chestnut oak buds are bleached and have no hair.
Where the base of the bud joins the stem the buds of the red oak
are more constricted than those of the chestnut oak, and the
chestnut oak buds seem more sessile. Alternate leaf-scars. Acorn set
in a shallow cup of fine scales.
The red oak is a lofty, wide-spreading tree of great beauty. “No
other oak,” Emerson says, “flourishes so readily in every situation, no
other is of so rapid growth, no other surpasses it in beauty of foliage
and of trunk; no oak attains, in this climate, to more magnificent
dimensions; no tree, except the white oak, gives us so noble an idea
of strength.”
It is perhaps, of all the black oak group, the easiest to distinguish
in winter on account of the smooth spaces between the fissures of
the bark on its trunk, and its pointed buds, which are much less
downy than those of the black oak.
The wood is heavy, hard, and strong, but it is not particularly
valuable. It is used in the construction and interior finish of houses
and for making cheap furniture.
 RED OAK
Quercus rubra
Page 94

The specific name, rubra, was given to it on account of the rich,

red midrib and veins of the leaves.
It is the oak which is found farthest north, and it grows in all kinds
of soil from Nova Scotia southward to Northern Georgia. The red oak
was one of the earliest American trees introduced into Europe.
A large tree, 60 to 80 feet high. The bark is
Scarlet Oak grayish and not deeply furrowed. Slender twigs,
Quercus with small, alternate leaf-scars. Small buds, the
coccinea
tips being half as hairy as those of the black oak,
while the bases are smooth. The acorn is one-half or more enclosed
in a coarsely scaled cup. Its kernel is bitter.
The scarlet oak is the most brilliant member of the oak family. In
summer its leaves are a shining green, in autumn they turn more
glowingly red than those of any other oak, and in winter its buds
and stems are smooth, and show more color than those of the other
members of the genus. Its outline is less spreading in shape than
those of oaks generally, and the bark of the trunk is not so coarsely
furrowed as the black oak’s, nor so smooth as that of the red oak.
The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for the same purposes
as red oak.
The specific name, coccinea (of a scarlet color), refers to the hue
of the foliage in the autumn.
The scarlet oak is found growing throughout the Northeastern
States and also in the South and West.
A small or medium-sized tree in New England,
Pin Oak Quercus although it reaches the height of 120 feet in the
palustris forests of the West. It is excurrent in growth. In its
youth the branches are rigid and horizontal, and
have a tendency to droop stiffly towards the ground. The branches
and twigs are persistent, some of the twigs often becoming small,
stiff, pin-like spurs, which are a distinctive characteristic of the tree.
The buds are small and the twigs slender. Alternate leaf-scars. The
acorn is half an inch long, in a shallow, saucer-shaped cup with thin
scales.
 TRUNK OF A RED OAK
Page 95

The outline of the pin oak is not in the least like that of any other
oak after its leaves have fallen; for while most oaks are distinguished
by their far-reaching lateral branches which divide a short distance
at the trunk, the pin oak carries its main stem to the top of the tree,
and the lateral branches grow from the trunk, forming a pyramidal
head. In the forests where it grows in swamps and wet places, it
loses this shape, but even then the branches are characteristically
rigid and grow near together. The pyramidal shape of this tree, its
small, delicate buds and branches, and the pin-like twigs, from
which it takes its name of pin oak, make it easily recognized as we
see it growing in our parks and gardens.
The wood is hard and strong, where the tree is found growing
commonly, and is used in the construction of houses and for shingles
and clapboards.
The specific name is from the Latin paluster, an adjective meaning
swampy or boggy, and has reference to the moisture-seeking
characteristics of the tree.
The pin oak is found growing on the banks of the Connecticut
River in Massachusetts, but it occurs more commonly in the South
and West.
The scrub or bear oak (Quercus pumila) is a dwarfed, straggling
bush, three to ten feet high, and found on sandy, barren, and rocky
hills from Maine to Carolina. Its specific name, pumila (dwarf), was
given to it on account of its size and crooked manner of growth.
 PIN OAK
Quercus palustris
Page 96
 Chapter VIII
THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRY
The Slippery Elm and the American Elm.
 Chapter VIII
THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRY

Family Ulmaceæ

T HE members of this family are found in Europe, Asia, and North

America. Two genera, the elm (Ulmus) and the hackberry
(Celtis), are found in the Northeastern States.
The elms are remarkable for the massive strength of their trunk
and limbs and for the light delicacy of their small branches and twigs
as we see them against the sky in winter. The American and English
elms particularly are really more beautiful in winter than in summer,
when the contrast between the little twigs and the little branches is
hidden by the leaves. The elms are all long-lived trees and grow
rapidly. They bear transplanting and pruning better than any other
tree, and grow on almost any kind of soil. If it were not for the
attacks of insects, to which the elms seem peculiarly liable, no trees
would be more deserving of cultivation. Perhaps no other tree is so
strongly associated in our minds with the beautiful old valley towns
and hillside villages of New England, and to the elms they largely
owe their beauty. Three indigenous elms are found in the
Northeastern States, the American, slippery, and cork elms, and two
from Europe, the English and the Scotch or Dutch elms, are planted
commonly in our gardens and parks.
A large spreading tree, with graceful, drooping
American or branches. Smooth brown twigs; alternate leaf-
White Elm scars. The terminal and lateral buds are the same
Ulmus
americana
size; the flower buds are larger. The flowers come
before the leaves in the early spring, and the fruit,
a small round samara, ripens later in the spring.
 The American elm stands absolutely alone among trees for its
especial kind of beauty. No other tree combines such strength and
lofty stateliness with so much fine work and delicacy. Its trunk
divides a short distance from the ground into many large, spreading
branches, which stretch up high into the air and support the waving,
drooping, curving twigs and small branches.
 AMERICAN ELM, LANCASTER, MASS.
Ulmus americana
(From a photograph by Mr. Eli Forbes)
Page 102
 It is interesting to find how many distinct shapes the American
elm takes. These are so varied that many people think that each
form is a separate species, but they are all different types of the
same tree. The Etruscan vase is one of the most familiar shapes of
this elm. Its trunk divides a short way from the ground into several
equally large branches, and the top of the tree is flat, with down-
sweeping lateral branches. The beautiful Lancaster elm, from which
the accompanying photograph was taken, belongs to this Etruscan
vase form. Another well-known shape is the plume, which may be
either single or compound. In these trees the single trunk or two or
three parallel limbs rise to a great height without branches, and
these spread into one or two light waving plumes. Many of these
plume elms are found in the Berkshire Hills and throughout New
England where the woods have been cut away and the elms have
been left standing. The oak form, still another shape the elm
occasionally takes, is broad and round-headed, with heavy lateral
branches which extend in a horizontal direction in a manner very
suggestive of the white oak. This is not so common as the vase and
plume elms, and only occurs when the tree has grown in an open
situation with plenty of air and light. A fine specimen of this tree
stands near the Pratt house, in Concord, Massachusetts. “Feathered”
elms are those which have a growth of little twigs along the trunk
and branches. They may feather any of the different forms already
described, and they come from latent buds which may have been
dormant for years before opening.
“The white elm,” Professor Charles S. Sargent says, “is one of the
largest and most graceful trees of the Northeastern States and
Canada. It is beautiful at all seasons of the year,—when its minute
flowers, harbingers of earliest spring, cover the branches; when in
summer it rises like a great fountain of dark and brilliant green
above its humbler companions of the forest or sweeps with long and
graceful boughs the placid waters of some stream flowing through
verdant meadows; when autumn delicately tints its leaves; and
when winter brings out every detail of the great arching limbs and
slender pendulous branches standing out in clear relief against the
sky.
“The elm trees which greeted the English colonists as they landed
on the shores of New England seemed like old friends from their
general resemblance to the elm trees that had stood by their
cottages at home; and as the forest gave way to cornfields many
elm trees were allowed to escape the axe, and when a home was
made a sapling elm taken from the borders of a neighboring swamp
was often set to guard the rooftree. These elm trees, remnants of
the forest which covered New England when it was first inhabited by
white men, or planted during the first century of their occupation,
are now dead or rapidly disappearing; they long remained the
noblest and most imposing trees of the Northern States, and no
others planted by man in North America have equalled the largest of
them in beauty and size.”
The wood is heavy, tough, and difficult to split. It is used for
making the hubs of wheels and for flooring, cooperage, and boat-
building.
The generic name, Ulmus, comes from ulm or elm, the Saxon
name of the tree, the specific name explains itself. The American
elm is found from Newfoundland to Florida and as far west as the
eastern base of the Rocky Mountains.
A medium-sized tree, 45 to 60 feet high. The
Slippery or Red twigs are gray and bristled, unlike the smooth
Elm Ulmus twigs of the white elm. Alternate leaf-scars, which
pubescens
are more conspicuous than those of the white elm.
The buds are larger and rounder than those of the white elm; they
are soft and downy, and are covered with reddish brown hairs. The
inner bark is very mucilaginous.
Country boys know the slippery elm for its sweet mucilage, just as
they know the shagbark for its nuts, the sassafras for its aromatic
roots, and the spruce for its gum; and this mucilaginous
characteristic is a certain means of determining the tree.
 In form it is less drooping than the white elm and it is also much
smaller. The hairy buds give the whole tree a reddish color in spring,
and from this it probably takes the name of red elm; the slippery elm
is a more characteristic name however, as few trees have such a
slippery inner bark. These hairy brown buds are among the prettiest
to be found on any trees in winter. Compared with the smooth, hard
buds on many trees, they are what soft, long-haired Angoras are to
ordinary cats.
The wood is strong, hard, and close-grained and is used for
making posts, railroad ties, and agricultural implements. The inner
bark is used for inflammatory diseases and externally for poultices.
The specific name, pubescens (down or soft hair), refers to the
pubescence on the buds and leaves and along the recent shoots.
 YOUNG CORK ELM
Ulmus racemosa
Page 107
 The slippery elm is found in certain localities throughout the
Atlantic States, it is not common in Eastern Massachusetts.
A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high, known by the
Cork or Rock peculiar corky ridges along the branches. Alternate
Elm Ulmus leaf-scars. The recent twigs and the scales of the
racemosa
bud are fringed with downy hair.
In New England the cork elm is found in the northwestern part of
New Hampshire and in Southern Vermont. It is rare in
Massachusetts, and would probably be found only in the western
part of the State growing wild. Neither Michaux nor Emerson has
described the cork elm. Nuttall says that it was discovered in the
State of New York by a Mr. Thomas, and he gives the tree the name
“Thomas’s elm,” which has fortunately not been retained.
The wood is tougher and of somewhat finer grain than that of the
white elm, and in the “Silva of North America,” Professor Sargent
says: “The value of the wood of the rock elm threatens its
extinction; and most of the large trees have already been cut in the
forests of Canada, New England, New York, and Michigan. The rock
elm is sometimes planted as a shade tree in the region which it
inhabits naturally, and although it grows rather more slowly than the
white elm, it is a handsome and distinct ornamental tree which
planters have too generally neglected.”
The specific name, racemosa (cluster-flowered), refers to the
flowers which grow in a raceme.
It is found in New England, its range extending southward and
westward.
A tall tree, more upright in growth than the
English Elm American elm. The branches are less spreading
Ulmus and more erect than those of the American
campestris
species. In this climate it is often distinguished by
the little tufts of dead twigs on the tree. The bark is darker and
coarser than that of the American elm; the buds and twigs differ
very little from those of our species.
 ENGLISH ELMS
Ulmus campestris
Page 108

The English elm is found planted frequently throughout New

England, and there are many fine specimens in Massachusetts,
especially in the country about Boston. According to Emerson, they
were originally said to be imported and planted by a wheelwright for
his own use in making the hubs of wheels, for which purpose the
wood of the English elm is superior to any other. At all events, there
are many beautiful specimens growing near old colonial houses, and
sometimes they are found growing by stone walls at some distance
from the house, back of farm buildings and barns, as was the group
from which I took the following photograph.
The American elm is more graceful than the English elm, which,
on the other hand, is more stately; both trees are unusually
beautiful, although representing such different types of beauty. In
the “Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Dr. Holmes contrasts the
English and American elms growing on Boston Common. “Go out
with me into that walk which we call the Mall,” he says, “and look at
the English and American elms. The American elm is tall, graceful,
slender-sprayed, and drooping as if from languor. The English elm is
compact, robust, holds its branches up, and carries its leaves for
weeks longer than our own native tree. Is this typical of the creative
force on the two sides of the ocean or not?”
In England the elm has been planted from the time of the
Romans, though Dr. Walker thinks that it was brought over at the
time of the Crusades. The elm was planted by the Romans as a prop
for grape vines, and in the South of Italy it is still used for that
purpose. In “Paradise Lost” Milton refers to this when he describes
how Adam and Eve spent their time in the Garden of Eden. Among
various other occupations,

“They led the vine

 To wed her elm; she spoused about him twines
Her marriageable arms; and with her brings
Her dower, the adopted clusters to adorn
His barren leaves.”

Columella tells us that vineyards with elm trees as props were

named arbusta, the vines themselves being called arbustivæ vitæ, to
distinguish them from others raised in more confined situations.
Once in two years the elms were carefully pruned to prevent their
leaves from overshadowing the grapes; this was considered of great
importance, and we have a better understanding of Virgil’s reproach
to Corydon, who neglected both his elms and vines, when we realize
this:—

“Semiputate tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est.”

(Your vine half pruned upon the leafy elm.)

In Ovid, Vertumnus alludes to the mutual dependence of the elm

and the vine when he assures Pomona of the advantages of a happy
marriage:—

“‘If that fair elm,’ he cried, ‘alone should stand

No grapes would glow with gold, and tempt the hand;
Or if that vine without her elm should grow,
’T would creep a poor neglected shrub, below.’”

The specific name, campestris, comes from the Latin word

meaning belonging to a plain or field.
 SCOTCH ELM
Ulmus montana
Page 111

A medium-sized tree, 50 to 60 feet high. The

Scotch, Dutch, bark is smooth and green. The branches are
or Wych Elm spreading and somewhat drooping. The buds are
Ulmus montana
not downy like those of the slippery elm.
The Scotch elm, like the English elm, is extensively cultivated in
the parks and gardens about Boston, and it is frequently planted
along roadsides. It is less upright and tall than the English elm, its
average height being about forty feet, and it has a more spreading
head.
The Scotch elm, according to Gerard, had various uses in ancient
times. Its wood was made into bows, and its bark, which is so tough
that it will strip or peel off from the wood from one end of a bough
to the other without breaking, was made into ropes. Its wood was
not considered so good for naves as that of the English elm, though
in Scotland it is used by ship-builders, the block and pump maker,
the cartwright and cabinet maker. Loudon says in his “Arboretum et
Fruticetum Britannicum”: “In many parts of the country, the wych
elm, or witch-hazel, as it is still occasionally called, is considered a
preservative against witches; probably from the coincidence,
between the words ‘wych’ and ‘witch.’ In some of the midland
counties, even to the present day, a little cavity is made in the churn
to receive a small portion of witch-hazel, without which the
dairymaids imagine that they would not be able to get the butter to
come.”
The specific name, montana, from the Latin word meaning living
on mountains, was given to this tree because it is found growing,
not only in the plains and valleys, like Ulmus campestris, but also in
the remote highlands where it finds a foothold and flourishes on the
steep slopes of the mountains.
 A small tree, 20 to 50 feet high, with slender,
Hackberry, wide-spreading branches. The terminal buds are
Sugarberry, lacking, the lateral ones are flattened and pointed
Nettle Tree
and somewhat hairy. The twigs are dark grayish
Celtis
occidentalis brown with white chambered pith inside the stems.
The leaf-scars are semi-oval with three bundle-
scars and alternate in arrangement. The fruit is reddish, turning dark
purple; it is round and berry-like and about the size of a currant.