Structural analysis is the determination of the effects of loads on physical structures and their components. Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, vehicles, furniture, soil strata, prostheses and biological tissue.
Questions tagged [structural-analysis]
589 questions
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Why the design of continuous beam is always more economical than beam with supports?
Assuming that I have a beam that spans across a few supports. I can design the beam as a continuous beam (a beam that is loaded and has more than two supports), or individual beams that each encompass between two supports.
From what I know, the…
Graviton
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Structural Analysis of a Space Frame
I have a seemingly simple structure and I need to perform a hand calculation to check that the stresses in the members are below the allowable values. In its simplest form, the structure is a rectangular frame made from rectangular tube welded at…
Jim S.
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What could be the reason for these sections not agreeing?
I have two results that don't seem to match up and I can't figure out why.
I built a hollow square section (HSS) using two different structural analysis softwares (they both agreed). However, they don't seem to agree with the AISC steel table…
carigs89
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What is the general way for the slab loading be distributed to adjacent beam?
From what I know, for a nice rectangle slab with 4 edges bounded by beams, one can distribute the slab loading to adjacent beam via the Tributary Area method.
But what if the slab is irregular, or there are arbitrary line loads on the slab, or the…
Graviton
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Failure modes of a zimmer frame
I've been asked to modify an existing zimmer/walking frame for a tall person. Bashing the bits of metal is the easy bit, just use tube to make longer legs to replace the original short removable adjustable ones, using tube that's actually thicker…
Neil_UK
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Estimating dynamic load from human body
I want to build myself a pull-up bar. I am confident enough that I can guesstimate how much material I need for it to be strong enough, but this time I would like to challenge myself to properly calculate all the strengths needed.
However I am stuck…
cube
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On the proof of the Principle of Virtual Work
I'm having some trouble understanding the proof of the Principle of Virtual Work for deformable bodies. I'll give below the proof that I've read, and, next, I'll remark what I'm not understanding.
The first thing to remember before going through the…
muimerp
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Correct axial force distribution between pinned ends of a member?
I have a planar member pinned at both ends with compressive axial loads at 1/3 and 2/3rd position of 14.4 applied between them. Is the following axial force distribution correct? Shouldn't the section E2 carry the 14.4 kN load. Note all material…
Stephen Jacob
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Which would be the most rigid?
I'm trying to resolve a theoretical problem.
If I have 2 steel boxes made from the same gauge steel (3mm stainless steel) & one is 7 meters by 2 meters by 2 meters & the other is say 30% smaller in length / width / height, which would be the more…
box guy
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Understanding Bending and Twisting Moments in a Plate
I am trying to understand Kirchoff Plate Theory and I am unable to understand the difference between bending and twisting moment for a plate. In a beam structure, if moment is along the axis of the beam, it creates twist, and if the moment is…
Ali Baig
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Finding reactions of a continuous beam
is it possible to find all the support reactions of this continuous beam using fourth order equation without using principle of superposition?
gundepudi
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Constrained optimization using Lagrangian
I'm trying to optimize the weight of a truss with the constraint that the trusses don't face more stress than the material resistance.
Here is a sketch of my truss:
I have a Python function that given the list of X,Y coordinates for my fours nodes,…
pomme
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Why/how normal shear stress is zero in thin-walled beams?
Please explain how the normal shear stress (shear stress normal to the cuve, C, defining the cross-section of a thin-walled beam) is zero. I have attached a screenshot from a book which says that the outer surfaces of the beam are stress free. This…
Ali Baig
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What diameter aluminum pole do I need to lift 100 lbs vertically?
I am wanting to use an aluminum pole (as a Jin Pole) to lift the mast on my sailboat into place. My mast is about 30 ft. long and weighs between 80 – 100 lbs. The aluminum pole would be stood upright and attached to fore and lateral stays to hold…
Jim T
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How to model a UDL over a plate for bending?
If I have a square plate of height h supported along one side (an L-bracket, modeled as fixed support), and there is an evenly distributed force acting over the face of the plate. From load analysis I am able to determine the resulting force (acting…
Andy
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