Structural Fesign Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Structural Fesign - Essay Example Structural engineers are thus very important in the construction supply chain. Structural design encompasses the design of the support structure, selection of materials, computation of the member size, evaluation of the effect of the environment on the structural elements, selection of the member types and lastly the configuration of the structure in the most effective, affordable, safe and serviceable manner (Heyman, 1999). The structural designer must work according to the building standardization codes. He may have several designs of which he selects the most affective and affordable design. The design selected must not fail. To ensure proper functionality especially in the factories, the beams must not sag as this may lead to improper functioning or derailing of the cranes. Failure of the structural members results in machines drive shaft fail, machine table misalignment and burning of the bearing due to warbling. Simply supported beams; there are supported vertically at two points. One point is fixed permanently while at the other point, an allowance is given to enable the beam to move horizontally due to expansion (Hosford, 2005). Hollow section: there are several hollow sections that are used in structural design. ... Continuous supported beams; supported at several points. There are several types of beams; these include; Universal beams; they are I shaped beams and are effective as supporting structures, they don't fail easily, they are also referred to as H section beams. Angle sections; they are 'L' shaped are mainly used for roofing where struts and ties are required to make trusses. T-sections; these are structural members that have a 'T' shape. Hollow section: there are several hollow sections that are used in structural design. These include; rectangular hollow section that have a rectangular shape, round hollow section that have a round tubular cross-section and shape, Square sections which have a square cross-section and elliptical cross-section which have an ellipse shape but are hollow inside. Trusses; they are mainly used for roofing; there are sometimes preferred in that they may span for long distances without sagging or deflecting. There are very versatile and can be redesigned easily to add more struts and ties to accommodate greater loads or span longer distances. Bars and rods; bars are rectangular while rods are circular; the are solid unlike the hollow section. Plates. Plates are metallic sheets with a thickness greater than 6mm. Concrete; One of the most widely used structural materials. It is cheap and last long as compared to all the other materials. Concrete comprise of a mix of sand, cement and aggregate in different proportions. The strength of concrete depends on the mixing ratios. Ratios with more sand and cement have greater strength and are used in industrial constructions. Nearly all concrete mixes are reinforced with steel bars. The inherent advantages of reinforcing concrete are; The composite structure resulting from the mix is more