Basis of Structural Design

Course 11 EN 1990: Design requirements The limit state method

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EN 1990: Basis of structural design

EN 1990 establishes principles and requirements for the safety, serviceability and durability of structures, describes the basis for their design and verification and gives guidelines for related aspects of structural reliability EN 1990 is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1991 to EN 1999 for the structural design of buildings and civil engineering works, including geotechnical aspects, structural fire design, situations involving earthquakes, execution and temporary structures EN 1990 is applicable for the design of structures where other materials or other actions outside the scope of EN 1991 to EN 1999 are involved EN 1990 is applicable for the structural appraisal of existing construction, in developing the design of repairs and alterations or in assessing changes of use

Design requirements
A structure shall be designed and executed in such a way that, during its intended life, with appropriate degrees of reliability and in an economical way it will have adequate:
structural resistance [strength] (the structure should be safe for people and contents, sustaining all actions and influences likely to occur during execution and use) serviceability (remain fit for the use for which it is required - the deformations, deflections and vibrations should not be too large) durability (a structure should continue to resist environmental influences and be usable after an extended period of time and usage) fire resistance (in the case of fire, the structural resistance shall be adequate for the required period of time) robustness (a structure should not be damaged by events such as explosion, impact, and the consequences of human errors, to an extent disproportionate to the original cause)

Design requirements: strength and stiffness

Structural resistance and serviceability are usually mutually dependent. In many cases a structure that has sufficient resistance will have also a sufficient stiffness. However, the use of higher strength materials, improved technologies, and advanced analytical techniques, together with more emphasis on economy leads to more slender structures. For example, a large span structure may have the sufficient strength, but not the required stiffness. Therefore both strength and serviceability requirements should be checked.

Design requirements in the case of fire

Effect of fire on structures:
reduce the strength and stiffness of materials due to temperature impose large deformations

Design requirements in the case of fire

During fire it is necessary to ensure the load-bearing capacity and the structural integrity for a defined period of time in order to:
permit evacuation of occupants afford appropriate protection to fire-fighting services protect the building and adjoining property from fire spread

The "required period of time" is dependent on the:

use of the building height of the building size of the building or compartment

Design requirements: robustness

A structure shall be designed and executed in such a way that it will not be damaged by events such as: explosion, impact, and the consequences of human errors, to an extent disproportionate to the original cause

Design requirements: robustness

Potential damage shall be avoided or limited by appropriate choice of one or more of the following:
avoiding, eliminating or reducing the hazards to which the structure can be subjected; selecting a structural form which has low sensitivity to the hazards considered; selecting a structural form and design that can survive adequately the accidental removal of an individual member or a limited part of the structure, or the occurrence of acceptable localised damage; avoiding as far as possible structural systems that can collapse without warning; tying the structural members together.

Design requirements: reliability

Reliability is the ability of a structure or a structural member to fulfill the specified requirements, during the design working life, for which it has been designed. Reliability is usually expressed in probabilistic terms. In a narrow sense, reliability is the probability that the structure will not exceed specified limit states (strength or serviceability requirements) during a specified reference period. The reliability required for structures by EN 1990 should be achieved:
by design in accordance with EN 1990 to EN 1999 and by appropriate execution and quality management measures

Design requirements: the design working life

The design working life is the time for which a structure (or part of it) is to be used for its intended purpose with anticipated maintenance, but without major repair being necessary

Design requirements: the design working life

The present state of knowledge is insufficient to enable precise prediction of the life of a structure. The behaviour of materials and structures over extended periods of time can only be estimated. The likely period of maintenance of the structure or time of replacement of various components of a structure can, however, be determined. The notion of design working life is useful for:
the selection of design actions (snow, wind, etc.) and the consideration of material property deterioration (corrosion, fatigue or creep) estimation of life-cycle cost to evaluate relative economics of different solutions (comparison of different design solutions and choice of materials, with different initial and maintenance costs) developing management procedures and strategies for systematic maintenance and renovation of structures

Design requirements: durability

The durability of a structure is its ability to remain fit for use during the design working life given appropriate maintenance. The structure should be designed in such a way that no significant deterioration is likely to occur within the period between successive inspections. The need for critical parts of the structure to be available for inspection, without complicated dismantling, should be part of the design. "Performance indicator" can be expressed in various units: mechanical (e.g. strength), financial, etc. as a function of time.

Design requirements: durability

Initially, upon building completion,
building performance remain constant for a period of time (e.g. steel structures), or building performance can increase with time (e.g. concrete structures in which concrete strength grows)

Design requirements: durability

After a certain period of time, the performance of a building decreases (e.g. corrosion of steel, carbonation of concrete). Some type of damage may occur, like corrosion of reinforcement steel in reinforced concrete elements, wide cracks in reinforced concrete members which remain open, or fatigue cracks in steel members. If no maintenance is performed at this stage, damage to the structure increases and its condition worsens, progressing to possible structural failure. If the structure is repaired, a reliability level is ensured above the serviceability level. In this context, durability requirement from EN 1990 has the following meaning: at the end of its design working life, the reliability level of the structure should not be below the serviceability level.

Principles of limit states design: general

Limit states: states beyond which the structure no longer fulfils the relevant design criteria. In other words, limit states are idealisations of undesirable events or phenomena. Each limit state is associated with a certain performance requirement imposed on a structure. Two categories of limit states need to be considered:
Ultimate limit states (ULS) Serviceability limit states (SLS)

Principles of limit states design: general

Ultimate limit states: states associated with collapse or with other similar forms of structural failure Serviceability limit states: states that correspond to conditions beyond which specified service requirements (deflections, vibrations, cracks) for a structure or structural member are no longer met

Principles of limit states design: general

According the traditional concept of limit states, a structure is assumed to be fully satisfactory up to a certain value of load effect E0, and beyond this point the structure is assumed to be fully unsatisfactory. It may be difficult to define precisely a distinct value E0, separating the desirable and undesirable conditions structural conditions. In these cases, a gradual loss of the ability of the structure to perform adequately provides a more realistic concept.

Principles of limit states design: general

The nature of ULS is essentially different from the nature of SLS:
Infringement of ULS leads always to structural failure, implying the need to demolish or repair the structure. Infringement of SLS does not usually leads to such fatal consequences for the structure, and the structure may normally be used after the removal of those actions which caused the infringement. The criteria of ULS involve parameters of the structure and appropriate actions only. The criteria of SLS are additionally dependent on the requirements of clients and users (sometimes subjective), and on the characteristics of the installed equipment and non-structural elements

Principles of limit states design: general

The difference between the ULS and SLS result in separate formulation of reliability conditions, and different levels of reliability assumed in the verification of both limit states. In some cases verification of one limit state may be omitted if sufficient information is available to ensure that the requirements of one limit state are met by satisfying the other limit state. For example, in the case of reinforced concrete beams satisfying the ULS condition, the verification of deflection can be omitted provided the span/depth ratio is less than 18 for highly stressed concrete or less than 25 for lightly stressed concrete.

Principles of limit states design: general

Not all undesirable effects or phenomena can be easily classified into ULS or SLS. For example,
in the case of a railway bridge, some SLS of the deck can be considered as ULS for the supported track: significant deformation of the track may cause the derailment of a train with loss of human life; vibration of a building floor or a footbridge may be very uncomfortable, or even dangerous to human health, without being structurally damaging.

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Principles of limit states design: design situations

Design situations: sets of physical conditions representing the real conditions occurring during a certain time interval for which the design will demonstrate that relevant limit states are not exceeded:
Persistent design situations Transient design situations Accidental design situations Seismic design situations

Principles of limit states design: design situations

Persistent design situations, which refer to the conditions of normal use, which can include extreme conditions from wind, snow, imposed loads, etc. These are generally related to the design working life of the structure. Transient design situations, which refer to temporary conditions applicable to the structure, e.g. during execution or repair. For example, for the maintenance of a bridge, a lane of the carriageway may be temporarily closed for normal traffic, modifying the conditions of use of the buildings.

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Principles of limit states design: design situations

Accidental design situations, which refer to exceptional conditions applicable to the structure or to its exposure, e.g. to fire, explosion, impact or the consequences of localised failure.

Seismic design situations, which refer to conditions applicable to the structure when subjected to seismic events.

Principles of limit states design: design situations

The variation of actions, environmental influences and structural properties which will occur throughout the design working life of a structure should be considered by selecting distinct situations representing a certain time interval with associated hazards or conditions. The selected design situations shall be sufficiently severe and varied so as to encompass all conditions that can reasonably be foreseen to occur during the execution and use of the structure. Different levels of reliability may be applicable for different design situations.

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Principles of limit states design: ULS

The limit states that concern the safety of people, and/or the safety of the structure are classified as ultimate limit states. In some circumstances, the limit states that concern the protection of the contents are classified as ultimate limit states (examples: chemicals, nuclear materials or masterpieces in a museum). FORCE Generally, the first occurrence of a ULS is equivalent to failure. In some cases (e.g. when excessive deformations STATE PRIOR TO COLLAPSE are decisive) due to the difficulty COLLAPSE of computing analytically the collapse of a structure or a structural element, ultimate limit states can be defined for DISPLACEMENT simplicity as states prior to collapse.
FORCE DISP.

Principles of limit states design: ULS

The following ultimate limit states shall be verified where they are relevant:
loss of equilibrium of the structure or any part of it, considered as a rigid body; failure by excessive deformation, transformation of the structure or any part of it into a mechanism, rupture, loss of stability of the structure or any part of it, including supports and foundations; failure caused by fatigue (relevant for bridges and marine platforms) or other time-dependent effects.

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Principles of limit states design: SLS

Serviceability limit states concern:
the functioning of the structure or structural members under normal use, the comfort of people, the appearance of the construction works.

Taking into account the dependency of load effects, it is useful to distinguish between reversible and irreversible limit states

Principles of limit states design: SLS

Reversible serviceability limit states:
are not exceeded when the load that caused the infringement are removed examples: temporary deflections, excessive vibrations the first infringement does not lead to failure or loss of serviceability

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Principles of limit states design: SLS

Irreversible serviceability limit states:
remain permanently exceeded even when the loads that caused infringement are removed examples: permanent local damage or unacceptable deformations the first infringement of the limit state is decisive the design criteria are similar to those of ultimate limit states

Principles of limit states design: SLS

The verification of serviceability limit states should be based on criteria concerning:
deformations that cause damage to finishes or non-structural members or affect the appearance, the comfort of users, or the functioning of the structure (including the functioning of machines or services), vibrations that cause discomfort to people, or that limit the functional effectiveness of the structure damage that is likely to adversely affect the appearance, the durability, or the functioning of the structure.

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Principles of limit states design

The design procedure using the limit state method consists in setting up structural and load models for the relevant ultimate and serviceability limit states which are considered in various design situations and load cases. The aim of the limit state design is to verify that no limit state is exceeded when relevant design values for actions, for materials or products, and for geometrical properties are used in appropriate structural and load models. The verification of structural reliability is done using
the method of partial factors, or as an alternative, using probabilistic methods (applied to unusual structures, line nuclear power stations).

Principles of limit states design: structural model

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Principles of limit states design: structural model

pinned connection

rigid connection

Principles of limit states design: load model

Example: real imposed loads modelled as uniformly distributed

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