Structures: Difference between revisions

'''Part of the [[Topic:Statics|Statics]] course offered by the ''[[Topic:Applied Mechanics|Division of Applied Mechanics]]'', ''[[School:Engineering|School of Engineering]]'' and the ''[[Portal:Engineering and Technology|Engineering and Technology Portal]]'''''

Structural engineering relies heavily on the strengths of materials and their ability to withstand forces of tension or compression.  When used in conjunction with each other, as in the case of a truss, individual load bearing members both share and transmit loads, enabling the structure to accomplish much more than any individual member could alone.  

 

One way of distributing a force across a large distance is by building a ''Plane Truss'', which takes advantage of the principle of Equilibrium to translate forces along a system of interconnecting members.

The simplest truss is a triangle made of three points: '''A''', '''B''' and '''C''', and three members: '''AB''', '''BC''' and '''CA'''.  The method of distributing forces amongst many members relies on the engineer's ability to place a ''tensile'' or ''compressive'' force at any particular location.  To properly sum forces at a particular point, one must be able to sum forces into that point and also away from it.  Thus, '''AB''' and '''AC''' are in compression while '''BC''' is in tension.

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Plane Truss|Plane Truss]]

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Tension|Tension]]

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Compression|Compression]]

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Method of Joints|Method of Joints]]

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Method of Sections|Method of Sections]]

# Wikipedia article:[[w:Space Truss|Space Truss]]

[[Category:Applied Mechanics]]

[[Category:Mechanical Engineering]]