STATICALLY INDETERMINATE STRUCTURES Degree of static indeterminacy is the number of (independent) unknown static quantities (e.g. internal member forces and support reactions) that must be prescribed in addition to the use of equilibrium equations to completely describe the static state of the structure. The static state of the structure is known if and only if all support reactions and the internal member forces at any locations within the structure can be determined. Those (independent) unknown static quantities are termed as redundant unknowns. The structure is said to be statically determinate if and only if the degree of static indeterminacy is equal to zero; in the contrary, the structure is said to be statically indeterminate if and only if the degree of static indeterminacy is greater than zero. For a given structure, the degree of static indeterminacy or the number of redundant unknowns (N R ) is obtained from (65) N n r n N h N 1 i ei N 1 i fi R n e + =
= =
where N e and N n are the number of members and the number of nodes of the given structure, respectively; n fi is the number of (independent) unknown internal forces for the i th member (n fi = 1 for a truss member, n fi = 2 for a beam member, and n fi = 3 for a frame member); n ni is the number of (independent) equilibrium equations for the i th node (n ni = 2 for truss and beam structures and n ni = 3 for a frame structure); r is the number of components of support reactions; and N h is the number of components of internal releases (i.e. components of internal forces that are prescribed at certain locations within the structure, e.g. moment release at plastic hinges). Solution strategy by flexibility method. Let consider a statically indeterminate structure with N R redundant unknowns. To analyze the structure by the flexibility method, the given structure is first released to remove N R redundant unknowns (internal forces and support reactions); this is achieved by performing imaginary cuts at certain locations within the structure and thereby results in a statically determinate structure. Note that the process of release is nontrivial since a choice of redundants is not unique but at the same time is not arbitrary. In fact they must be chosen such that the final structure is statically stable; i.e. there is no development of mechanisms or rigid body motion at any portion of the structure when subjected to perturbations. The resulting statically stable, statically determinate structure is called the primary structure. The primary structure that is subjected to the same set of external applied loads (as the original structure) and the released N R redundants is called the statically admissible structure. All support reactions, internal member forces, and displacements and/or rotations of the admissible structure can then be determined in terms of those N R redundants. For the admissible structure to become the original structure, the value of N R redundant unknowns must be chosen such that the continuity or compatibility of displacements (and/or rotations) at locations where redundants were released is maintained. These continuity conditions provide N R equations to resolve all N R
redundant unknowns. 2101-310 Structural Analysis I 10 - 2
Example13: Determine the number of redundant unknowns (N R ) of a truss structure as shown below. If the structure is statically indeterminate, obtain candidates of the statically admissible structure.
Solution The truss structure consists of 6 members and 4 nodes and contains 4 components of support reactions. The number of redundant unknowns of the structure is obtained using Eqn. (65) as
N R = 6(1) + 4 4(2) = 2
The structure is therefore statically indeterminate degree of static indeterminacy equal to two. To obtain the statically admissible structure, two redundant unknowns must be released and applied back to the structure as unknown external applied loads. Figures below show examples of both valid and invalid statically admissible structures.
L P o P o L P r1 P r1 P o P o P r2 P o P r2 P o Valid statically admissible structure Valid statically admissible structure 2101-310 Structural Analysis I 10 - 3
P r2 P r1 P o P o P r2 P o P r1 Invalid statically admissible structure Invalid statically admissible structure P o P o P r1 P r2 P o P r1 P r2 P o Invalid statically admissible structure Invalid statically admissible structure 2101-310 Structural Analysis I 10 - 4
Example14: Determine the number of redundant unknowns (N R ) of a beam structure as shown below. If the structure is statically indeterminate, obtain candidates of the statically admissible structure.
3P o L P o L L
Solution The beam structure consists of 3 members and 4 nodes and contains 3 components of support reactions. The number of redundant unknowns of the structure is obtained using Eqn. (65) as
N R = 3(2) + 3 4(2) = 1
The structure is therefore statically indeterminate with degree of static indeterminacy equal to one. To obtain the statically admissible structure, one redundant must be released and applied back to the structure in terms of unknown external applied load. Figures below show examples of both valid and invalid statically admissible structures.
3P o P r1 P o Valid statically admissible structure
3P o P r1 P o
Valid statically admissible structure
3P o P o Valid statically admissible structure P r1
2101-310 Structural Analysis I 10 - 5
P r1
Example15: Determine the number of redundant unknowns (N R ) of a frame structure as shown below. If the structure is statically indeterminate, obtain candidates of the statically admissible structure.
Solution The frame structure consists of 2 members and 3 nodes and contains 5 components of support reactions. The number of redundant unknowns of the structure is obtained using Eqn. (65) as
N R = 3(2) + 5 3(3) = 2 3P o L P o L L Valid statically admissible structure 3P o L P o P r1 L L Invalid statically admissible structure L M o L 2101-310 Structural Analysis I 10 - 6
The structure is therefore statically indeterminate with degree of static indeterminacy equal to two. To obtain the statically admissible structure, two redundants must be released and applied back to the structure in terms of unknown external applied loads. Figures below show examples of both valid and invalid statically admissible structures.
P r1 M o Valid statically admissible structure P r2 M o P r2 P r1
Valid statically admissible structure
P r1 M o Valid statically admissible structure P r2 P r1 M o P r2