STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

What Does a Structural Engineer Do?

Roles of a Structural Engineer Lead engineer/Project engineer Consultant for an architect Consultant for another engineer, insurance companies, lawyers, etc. As well as: –Aerospace design. –Product design, etc. for industries. –Facilities engineer.

Lead or Project Engineer Defines project goals –Costs –Performance requirements Supervises design based on these requirements. Outlines tasks –What needs to be done & who will do it Organizes Project –Calendar –Sequence

Palm Valley Interchange

Lower Granite Dam Lock Repair – Jarrod Milligan

Consulting for an Architect or Engineer The architect works with the client to establish project requirements: –space requirements and relationships –siting –aesthetics –lighting –budget

Consulting for an Architect or Engineer The engineer’s job is to make the architect look good. –Ensure integrity of structure –Provide economical solutions. –Develop innovative ways to solve new problems and use new materials.

Boise Air Terminal

Forensic Engineering Finding out what went wrong. –Insurance companies –Lawyers

Design Loads Design loads include: –Dead loads Self-weight, “Permanent” contents. –Live loads Occupants, Transient contents –Environmental loads Wind, snow, earthquake, etc.

Uncertainty Dead loads can be predicted with some confidence. Live load and environmental load predictions are much more uncertain. –E.g., it is nearly impossible to say what will be the exact maximum occupancy live load in a classroom. –It is also difficult to say how that load will be distributed in the room.

Uncertainty (cont.) Structural codes account for this uncertainty two ways: –We chose a conservative estimate (LARGE estimate) for the load: E.g., a “50-year” wind load, which is a wind load that occurs, on average, only once in 50 years. –We factor that estimate upwards just to be sure.

Load Factors Newer codes have separate load and resistance factors: –Load factors “overestimate” the load. –Resistance factors “underestimate” the strength of the structure. Dead load factors range from 1.1 to 1.4 –Smaller uncertainty. Environmental and live load factors range from 1.7 to 2.0 and higher. –Higher uncertainty

Simplified Wind Loads Since we can’t predict exactly the maximum load a given structure will experience, the code provides: –Rational procedures for estimating a reasonable maximum value –Procedures for arranging the loads on the structure. Experience has shown that if the engineer follows these procedures he/she can expect the structure to perform properly (i.e., not collapse, etc.)

Wind Loads What factors should the wind design loads consider?

Summary Design loads used by engineers represent rational estimates of loads that we should consider in our design. –Experience has shown if we design for these loads, the building should survive for a reasonable amount of time (50 years or more).

Summary (cont.) The models try to consider situations that will have a significant effect on the design load. –Max wind speed, building height and shape, etc. The maximum loads estimated by the design codes are then factored to add a safety margin to our calculations.

Example Building

Wind Loads on Structures

Gust Factor, G G = 0.85 for rigid, low rise buildings

Wall Pressure Coefficients, C p

Wind Velocity Pressure

Importance Factor Agriculture BuildingsCategory I “Typical” BuildingsCategory II Hospitals/Fire Depts. Category III or IV

Wind Load Map: Western US Wind speeds in MPH (kph)

Velocity Pressure Exposure Coefficients Exposure B, Case 2

Velocity Pressure Exposure Coefficients

Directionality Factor K d

Topographic Factor K zt If flat terrain K zt = 1

Wind Loads Calculate Wind Loads –Wind From East –Wind From West