Structural integrity and failure

Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering which deals with the ability of a structure to support a designed load (weight, force, etc...) without breaking, tearing apart, or collapsing, and includes the study of breakage that has previously occurred in order to prevent failures in future designs. Structural integrity is a performance characteristic which is applied to a component, a single structure, or a structure consisting of different components. Structural integrity is the quality of an item to hold together under a load, including its own weight, resisting breakage or bending. It assures that the construction will perform its designed function, during reasonable use, for as long as the designed life of the structure. Items are constructed with structural integrity to ensure that catastrophic failure does not occur, which can result in injuries, severe damage, death, or monetary losses. Structural failure refers to the loss of structural integrity, which is the loss of the load carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure, or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or e!cessive deformations. In a well designed system, a locali"ed failure should not cause immediate or even progressive collapse of the entire structure. #ltimate failure strength is one of the limit states that must be accounted for in structural engineering and structural design.
Contents
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& Introduction ' (istory ) *ypes of failure + ,otable failures +.& -ridges +.&.& .ee bridge +.&.' /irst *ay 0ail -ridge +.&.) /irst *acoma ,arrows -ridge +.&.+ I )12 -ridge +.' -uildings +.'.& Sampoong .epartment Store collapse

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1 See also : 0eferences 7 ;!ternal links

+.'.' 0onan 3oint +.'.) 4klahoma 5ity bombing +.'.+ 6ersailles wedding hall +.'.1 2orld *rade 5enter *ower &, ', and 2*5 -uilding 7 +.) 8ircraft +.+ 4ther +.+.& 2arsaw 0adio 9ast +.+.' (yatt 0egency walkway

Introduction$edit%
Structural integrity is the ability of a structure or a component to withstand a designed service load, resisting structural failure due to fracture, deformation, or fatigue. Structural integrity is a concept often used in engineering, to produce items that will not only function adequately for their designed purposes, but also to function for a desired service life. *o construct an item with structural integrity, an engineer must first consider the mechanical properties of a material, such as toughness, strength, weight, hardness, and elasticity, and then determine a suitable si"e, thickness, or shape that will withstand the desired load for a long life. 8 material with high strength may resist bending, but, without adequate toughness, it may have to be very large to support a load and prevent breaking. (owever, a material with low strength will likely bend under a load even though its high toughness prevents fracture. 8 material with low elasticity may be able to support a load with minimum deflection (fle!ing), but can be prone to fracture from fatigue, while a material with high elasitcity may be more resistant to fatigue, but may produce too much deflection unless the object is drastically oversi"ed. Structural integrity must always be considered in engineering when designing buildings, gears or transmissions, support structures, mechanical components, or any other item that may bear a load. *he engineer must carefully balance the properties of a material with its si"e and the load it is intended to support. -ridge supports, for instance, need good yield strength, whereas the bolts that hold them need good shear and tensile strength. Springs need good elasticity, but lathe tooling needs high rigidity and minimal

deflection. 2hen applied to a structure, the integrity of each component must be carefully matched to its individual application, so that the entire structure can support its load without failure due to weak links. 2hen a weak link breaks, it can put more stress on other parts of the structure, leading to cascading failures.$&%$'%

(istory$edit%
*he need to build structure with integrity goes back as far as recorded history. (ouses needed to be able to support their own weight, plus the weight of the inhabitants. 5astles needed to be fortified to withstand assaults from invaders. *ools needed to be strong and tough enough to do their jobs. (owever, it was not until the &<'=s that the science of fracture mechanics, namely the brittleness of glass, was described by 8lan 8rnold >riffith. ;ven so, a real need for the science did not present itself until 2orld 2ar II, when over '== welded steel ships broke in half due to brittle fracture, caused by a combination of the stresses created from the welding process, temperature changes, and the stress points created at the square corners of the bulkheads. *he squared windows in the .e (avilland 5omet aircraft of the &<1=s caused stress points which allowed cracks to form, causing the pressuri"ed cabins to e!plode in mid flight. /ailures in pressuri"ed boiler tanks were a common problem during this era, causing severe damage. *he growing si"es of bridges and buildings began to lead to even greater catastrophes and loss of life. *he need to build constructions with structural integrity led to great advances in the fields of material sciences and fracture mechanics. $)%$+%

*ypes of failure$edit%
/ailure of a structure can occur from many types of problems. 9ost of these problems are unique to the type of structure or to the various industries. (owever, most can be traced to one of five main causes.

*he first, whether due to si"e, shape, or the choice of material, is that the structure is not strong and tough enough to support the load. If the structure or component is not strong enough, catastrophic failure can occur when the overstressed construction reaches a critical stress level.

*he second is instability, whether due to geometry, design or material choice, causing the structure to fail from fatigue or corrosion. *hese types of failure often occur at stress points, such as squared corners or from bolt holes being too close to the material?s edge, causing cracks to slowly form and then progress through cyclic loading. /ailure general occurs when the cracks reach a critical length, causing breakage to happen suddenly under normal loading conditions.

*he third type of failure is caused by manufacturing errors. *his may be due to improper selection of materials, incorrect si"ing, improper heat treating, failing to adhere to the design, or shoddy workmanship. *hese types of failure can occur at any time, and are usually unpredictable.

*he fourth is also unpredictable, from the use of defective materials. *he material may have been improperly manufactured, or may have been damaged from prior use.

*he fifth cause of failure is from lack of consideration of une!pected problems. 6andalism, sabotage, and natural disasters can all overstress a structure to the point of failure. Improper training of those who use and maintain the construction can also overstress it, leading to potential failures. $1%$:%

,otable failures$edit%
Further information: List of structural failures and collapses

It has been suggested that Catastrophic failure#Examples be merged into this section. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2013.

Bridges$edit%
See also: List of bridge disasters

Dee bridge$edit%
Main article: Dee bridge disaster

*he .ee bridge after its collapse

4n '+ 9ay &@+7 the new railway bridge over the river .ee collapsed as a train passed over it, with the loss of 1 lives. It was designed by 0obert Stephenson, using cast iron girders reinforced with wrought iron struts. *he bridge collapse was the subject of one of the first formal inquiries into a structural failure. *he result of the inquiry was that the design of the structure was fundamentally flawed, as the wrought iron did not reinforce the cast iron at all, and that, owing to repeated fle!ing, the casting had suffered a brittle failure due to fatigue. $7%

First Tay Rail Bridge$edit%

Main article: Tay Bridge disaster *he .ee bridge disaster was followed by a number of cast iron bridge collapses, including the collapse of the first *ay 0ail -ridge on '@ .ecember &@7<. Aike the .ee bridge, the *ay collapsed when a train passed over it

causing 71 people to lose their lives. *he bridge failed because of poorly made cast iron, and the failure of the designer *homas -ouch to consider wind loading on the bridge. *he collapse resulted in cast iron largely being replaced by steel construction, and a complete redesign in &@<= of the /orth 0ailway -ridge. 8s a result, the /orth -ridge was the first entirely steel bridge in the world. $@%

First Tacoma Narrows Bridge$edit%

Main article: Tacoma Narrows Bridge ( !"#$ *he &<+= collapse of the original *acoma ,arrows -ridge is sometimes characteri"ed in physics te!tbooks as a classical e!ample of resonanceB although, this description is misleading. *he catastrophic vibrations that destroyed the bridge were not due to simple mechanical resonance, but to a more complicated oscillation between the bridge and winds passing through it, known asaeroelastic flutter. 0obert (. Scanlan, father of the field of bridge aerodynamics, wrote an article about this misunderstanding. $<% *his collapse, and the research that followed, led to an increased understanding of windCstructure interactions. Several bridges were altered following the collapse to prevent a similar event occurring again. *he only fatality was ?*ubby? the dog. $@%

I-35

Bridge$edit%

Main article: %&'() Mississippi *i+er bridge

Security camera images show the I )12 collapse in animation, looking north.

*he I )12 9ississippi 0iver bridge (officially known simply as -ridge <)+=) was an eight lane steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate )12 across the9ississippi 0iver in 9inneapolis, 9innesota, #nited States. *he bridge was completed in &<:7, and its maintenance was performed by the 9innesota .epartment of *ransportation. *he bridge was 9innesota?s fifthDbusiest,$&=%$&&% carrying &+=,=== vehicles daily. $&'% *he bridge catastrophically failed during the evening rush hour on & 8ugust '==7, collapsing to the river and riverbanks beneath. *hirteen people were killed and &+1 were injured. /ollowing the collapse, the /ederal (ighway 8dministration (/(28) advised states to inspect the 7== #.S. bridges of similar construction $&)% after a possible design flaw in the bridge was discovered, related to large steel sheets called gusset plates which were used to connect girders together in the truss structure.$&+%$&1%4fficials e!pressed concern about many other bridges in the #nited States sharing the same design and raised questions as to why such a flaw would not have been discovered in over += years of inspections. $&1%

Buildings$edit%
See also category: ,ollapsed buildings

This article is missing information about the 2013 Thane building collapse and the 2013 Savar building collapse. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (June 2013

Sam!oong De!artment Store colla!se$edit%

Main article: Sampoong Department Store collapse 4n '< Eune &<<1, the 1 story Sampoong .epartment Store in the Seocho .istrict of Seoul, South Forea collapsed resulting in the deaths of 1=' people. In 8pril &<<1, cracks began to appear in the ceiling of the fifth floor of the store?s south wing due to the presence of an air conditioning unit on the weakened roof of the poorly built structure. 4n the morning of '< Eune, as the number of cracks in the ceiling increased dramatically, the top floor was closed and managers shut the air conditioning off. *he store management failed to shut the building down or issue formal evacuation ordersB however, the e!ecutives themselves left the premises as a precaution. /ive hours before the collapse, the first of several loud bangs was heard emanating from the top floors, as the vibration of the air conditioning caused the cracks in the slabs to widen further. 8mid customer reports of vibration, the air conditioning was turned off, but the cracks in the floors had already grown to &= cm. 8t about 1G== p.m. local time, the fifth floor ceiling began to sinkB by 1G17 p.m., the roof gave way, and the air conditioning unit crashed through into the already overloaded fifth floor, trapping more than &,1== people and killing 1='.

Ronan "oint$edit%
Main article: *onan -oint 4n &: 9ay &<:@, the '' storey residential tower 0onan 3oint in the Aondon -orough of ,ewham collapsed when a relatively small gas e!plosion on the &@th floor caused a structural wall panel to be blown away from the building. *he tower was constructed of precast concrete, and the failure of the single panel caused one entire corner of the building to collapse. *he panel was able to be blown out because there was insufficient reinforcement steel passing between the panels. *his also meant that the loads carried by the panel could not be redistributed to other adjacent panels, because there was no route for the forces to follow. 8s a result of the collapse, building regulations were overhauled to prevent disproportionate collapse and the understanding of precast concrete detailing was greatly advanced. 9any similar buildings were altered or demolished as a result of the collapse.$&:%

#$la%oma City bombing$edit%

Main article: ./lahoma ,ity bombing

4n &< 8pril &<<1, the nine story concrete framed 8lfred 3. 9urrah /ederal -uilding in 4klahoma was struck by a huge car bomb causing partial collapse, resulting in the deaths of &:@ people. *he bomb, though large, caused a significantly disproportionate collapse of the structure. *he bomb blew all the glass off the front of the building and completely shattered a ground floor reinforced concrete column (see brisance). 8t second story level a wider column spacing e!isted, and loads from upper story columns were transferred into fewer columns below by girders at second floor level. *he removal of one of the lower story columns caused neighbouring columns to fail due to the e!tra load, eventually leading to the complete collapse of the central portion of the building. *he bombing was one of the first to highlight the e!treme forces that blast loading from terrorism can e!ert on buildings, and led to increased consideration of terrorism in structural design of buildings. $&7%

&ersailles wedding %all$edit%

Main article: 0ersailles wedding hall disaster *he 6ersailles wedding hall ((ebrewG HLMNK HIJKL), located in *alpiot, Eerusalem, is the site of the worst civil disaster in Israel?s history. 8t ''G+) on *hursday night, 9ay '+, '==& during the wedding of Feren and 8saf .ror, a large portion of the third floor of the four story building collapsed.

orld Trade Center Tower '( )( and

Main article: ,ollapse of the )orld Trade ,enter

TC Building * $edit%

In the September && attacks, two commercial airliners were deliberately crashed into the *win *owers of the 2orld *rade 5enter in ,ew Oork 5ity. *he impact and resulting fires caused both towers to collapse within two hours. 8fter the impacts had severed e!terior columns and damaged core columns, the loads on these columns were redistributed. *he hat trusses at the top of each building played a significant role in this redistribution of the loads in the structure.$&@% *he impacts dislodged some of the fireproofing from the steel, increasing its e!posure to the heat of the fires. *emperatures became high enough to weaken the core columns to the point of creep and plastic deformation under the weight of higher floors. 3erimeter columns and floors were also weakened by the heat of the fires, causing the floors to sag and e!erting an inward force on e!terior walls of the building. 2*5 -uilding 7 also collapsed later that day. 8ccording the official report, the +7 story skyscraper collapsed within seconds due to a combination of a large fire inside the building and heavy structural damage from the collapse of the north tower.
$&<%$'=%

+ircraft$edit%
Main article: Loss of structural integrity on an aircraft See also: ,ategory:1irliner accidents and incidents caused by in&flight structural failure

8 &<:+ - 1' Stratofortress test demonstrated the same failure that caused the &<:) ;lephant 9ountain P &<:+ Savage 9ountain crashes.

0epeated structural failures of aircraft types occurred in &<1+, when ' de (avilland 5omet 5& jet airliners crashed due to decompression caused bymetal fatigue, and in &<:) +, when the vertical stabili"er on + -oeing - 1' bombers broke off in mid air.

#t%er$edit%
arsaw Radio ,ast$edit%
Main article: )arsaw radio mast 4n @ 8ugust &<<& at &:G== #*5 2arsaw radio mast, the tallest man made object ever built before the erection of -urj Fhalifa collapsed as consequence of an error in e!changing the guy wires on the highest stock. *he mast first bent and then snapped at roughly half its height. It destroyed at its collapse a small mobile crane of 9ostostal Qabr"e. 8s all workers left the mast before the e!change procedures, there were no fatalities, in contrast to the similar collapse of 2A-* *ower in &<<7.

-yatt Regency wal$way$edit%

Main article: 2yatt *egency wal/way collapse

.esign change on the (yatt 0egency walkways.

4n &7 Euly &<@&, two suspended walkways through the lobby of the (yatt 0egency in Fansas 5ity, 9issouri, collapsed, killing &&+ and injuring '== people$'&% at a tea dance. *he collapse was due to a late change in design, altering the method in which the rods supporting the walkways were connected to them, and

inadvertently doubling the forces on the connection. *he failure highlighted the need for good communication between design engineers and contractors, and rigorous checks on designs and especially on contractor proposed design changes. *he failure is a standard case study on engineering courses around the world, and is used to teach the importance of ethics in engineering. $''%$')%

See also$edit%

Structural analysis Structural robustness 5atastrophic failure ;arthquake engineering 3orch collapse /orensic engineering 3rogressive collapse Seismic performance Structural /racture 9echanics 5ollapse "one

0eferences$edit%
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:. .um! u!/ Structural %ntegrity Monitoring -y 0.8. 5ollacott

5hapman and (all &<@1 3age & 1

7. .um! u!/ 3etroski, (. (&<<+) p.@&

@. R Eump up toGa b Scott, 0ichard ('==&). %n the )a/e of Tacoma: Suspension Bridges and the 6uest for 1erodynamic Stabilitya. 8S5; 3ublications. p. &)<. IS-, = 7@++ =1+' 1. <. .um! u!/ F. -illah and 0. Scanlan (&<<&), *esonance4 Tacoma Narrows Bridge Failure4 and 7ndergraduate -hysics Te8tboo/s, 8merican Eournal of 3hysics, 1<('), &&@ &'+ (3./) &=. .um! u!/ S'==: 9etro 8rea *raffic 6olume Inde! 9apS (pdf). 9nC.4*. '==:. 0etrieved < 8ugust '==7. Inde! map for 9nC.4*?s '==: traffic volumesB relevant maps showing the highest river bridge traffic volumes are 9aps ';, );, and )/. &&. .um! u!/ 2eeks, Eohn 8. III ('==7). SI )12 -ridge 5ollapse 9yths 8nd 5onspiraciesS. Eohn 8. 2eeks III. 0etrieved : 8ugust '==7. &'. .um! u!/ S'==: .owntown 9inneapolis *raffic 6olumesS (3./). 9innesota .epartment of *ransportation. '==:. 0etrieved 7 8ugust '==7. *his map shows average daily traffic volumes for downtown 9inneapolis. *runk highway and Interstate volumes are from '==:. &). .um! u!/ S#.S. Secretary of *ransportation 9ary ;. 3eters 5alls on States to Immediately Inspect 8ll Steel 8rch *russ -ridgesS (3ress release).

14. .um! u!/ S#pdate on ,*S- Investigation of 5ollapse of I )12 -ride in 9inneapolisS (3ress release).
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