Determinacy, Indeterminacy and Stability

Introduction
Before beginning to analyse a structure, it is
important to know what kind of structure it is.
Different types of structures may need to be
analysed using different methods. For example,
structures that are determinate may be completely
analysed using only static equilibrium, whereas
indeterminate structures require the use of both
static equilibrium and compatibility relationships to
find the internal forces. In addition, real structures
must be stable. This means that the structure can
recover static equilibrium after a disturbance. There
is no point analyzing a structure that is not stable.
This section will explain the concepts of
determinacy, indeterminacy and stability and show
how to identify determinate, indeterminate and
stable structures.

Important Terms
Stable/Unstable
A stable structure is one that will not collapse
when disturbed. Stability may also be defined
as "The power to recover equilibrium. In
general, there are many ways that a structure
may become unstable, including buckling of
compression members, yielding/rupture of
members, or nonlinear geometric effects like
P-Delta; however, for linear structural analysis,
the main concern is instability caused by
insufficient reaction points or poor layout of
structural members.
Internally Stable
In internally stable structure is one that would
maintain its shape if all the reactions supports
were removed. A structure that is internally
unstable may still be stable if it has sufficient
external support reactions. An example is
shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Internal Stability

External Determinacy
The ability to calculate all of the external
reaction component forces using only static
equilibrium. A structure that satisfies this
requirement is externally statically
 determinate. A structure for which the
external reactions component forces cannot
be calculated using only equilibrium
is externally statically indeterminate.
Internal Determinacy
The ability to calculate all of the external
reaction component forces and internal
forces using only static equilibrium. A structure
that satisfies this requirement is internally
statically determinate. A structure for which
the internal forces cannot be calculated using
only equilibrium is internally statically
indeterminate. Typically if one talks about
'determinacy', it is internal determinacy that is
meant.
Redundant
Indeterminate structures effectively have
more unknowns than can be solved using the
three equilibrium equations (or six equilibrium
equations in 3D). The extra unknowns are
called redundants.
Degree of Indeterminacy
The degree of indeterminacy is equal to the
number of redundants. An indeterminate
structure with 2 redundants may be said to be
statically indeterminate to the second degree
or "2º S.I."

External Determinacy
If a structure is externally determinate, then all of
the reactions may be calculated using equilibrium
alone. To calculate external determinacy, the
following equations are used:
Statically unstable
r<3+ec ~Eq. 1
externally

Statically
r=3+ec determinate ~Eq. 2
externally

Statically
r>3+ec indeterminate ~Eq. 3
externally

where r is the number of reaction

components, and ec is the number of
equations of condition. Both of these are
described in detail below.
 The degree of indeterminacy is given by the
following equation:
ie=r−(3+ec) ~Eq. 4
Reaction Components
In the equations above, r is equal to the total
number of reaction components as follows:

Support
Image Reactions r
Type

Roller r=1

Pin r=2

Fixed r=3

For multiple reaction points, r is the sum of all the

components for all the reaction points in the
structure.
Equations of Condition

Figure 2: Structure with an Internal Hinge

Additionally, ec is the "number of equations of
condition." These are release conditions within the
structure that provide extra equilibrium equations
beyond the three for global equilibrium.[3]
For example, if an internal hinge is added to the
structure, as shown in Figure 2, then there is one
equation of condition. If there was no internal hinge
in this example, then the structure would be
indeterminate and it would not be possible to find
the reaction forces or the internal forces (since is has
four reaction components). The addition of the
hinge provides an additional equilibrium condition
which forces the internal moment to be equal to 0
at point B ( ∑MB=0 ). This may be seen if the structure
is split into two free body diagrams as shown in the
lower part of Figure 2. At point B, there are three
internal force components that exist in equal and
opposite action/reaction pairs on either side of
point B:

1. Axial force - BABx and BBCx

2. Shear force - BABy and BBCy
3. Moment - MABB and MBCB
So, MABB=MBCB=0, because they are action
reaction pairs.
Therefore, only one extra equilibrium equation is
possible due to the introduction of the hinge:
either ∑MABB=0 or ∑MBCB=0 but not both
because the two equations are not
independent. So, for each internal hinge in a
structure, there is a single equation of
condition: ec=1.

Figure 3: Structure with an Internal Roller

For a structure with an internal roller, such as that
shown in Figure 3, both the force transfer in the
direction of the roller and the moment are equal
to zero at the location of the roller. This provides
two extra equilibrium equations, and therefore
two equations of condition. For the structure
shown in Figure 3, the extra equations are:
∑MABB=0 ( or ∑MBCB=0 )
and
∑BABx=0 ( or ∑BBCx=0 )
So, for each internal roller, there are two
equations of condition: ec=2.
If there are additional members that frame
into a single internal hinge, then there is an
additional equation of condition for each
 additional member. For example, for three
members connected at a hinge, then
there are two extra independent
equilibrium equations that are added to
the system (because in an equal and
opposite action/reaction pair, there can
only be two sides). So, for a hinge
connection with multiple
elements, ec=n−1 where n is equal to the
number of members connected to the
hinge.
Similarly, for a roller connection with
multiple members, each additional
member adds two equations of condition,
so ec=2∗(n−1).
In summary:

Internal Equations
Support Type of Condition

Hinge ec=n−1 ~Eq. 5

Roller ec=2∗(n−1) ~Eq. 6

where n is the number of members

connected to the hinge or roller.
WARNING: This method of
determining external determinacy is
not valid for indeterminate
structures which contain closed
loops.

Internal Determinacy
If a structure is internally determinate, then all of
the reactions and internal forces may be
calculated using equilibrium alone. Internal
determinacy is generally much more important
than external determinacy in structural analysis. To
calculate internal determinacy, the following
equations are used:
3m+r<3j+ec Statically unstable ~Eq. 7

3m+r=3j+ec Statically determinate ~Eq. 8

3m+r>3j+ec Statically indeterminate ~Eq. 9

where m is the total number of members in

the structure, r is the number of reaction
components, j is the total number of joints in
the structure, and ec is the number of
equations of condition. The meaning
of r and ec are the same as for #External
Determinacy above. The definition of
members and joints will be discussed below.
The degree of indeterminacy is given by the
following equation:
ie=3m+r−(3j+ec) ~Eq. 10
Members and Joints

Figure 4: Determination of the Number of

Members and Joints
There is no specific way that a structure
must be split into members and joints for
the purposes of the determinacy analysis.
Any division of the structure is okay as
long as the members and joints are
consistent with each other; however,
joints should be placed at least at the
following locations:

1. Free ends
2. Reactions
3. Intersections of three or more
elements
For an example of how to calculate the
numbers of members and joints, see
Figure 4.

Stability
An unstable structure generally cannot be
analysed. Therefore, it is useful to know if a
structure is stable or unstable before a
structural analysis is conducted. There are
four main ways that a structure may be
geometrically unstable. These apply only
to linear geometric stability and not to
instability caused by buckling, member
yielding or nonlinear geometry.

Figure 5: Instability due to Parallel

Reactions

Figure 6: Instability due to Concurrent

Reactions

Figure 7: Instability due to an Internal

Collapse Mechanism

1. There are not enough reactions: This

will generally be clear from an
application of the determinacy
equations (Eq. 7-9).
2. The reactions are parallel: All of the
reaction components point in the
same direction. An example of such
a situation is shown in Figure 5. In this
example, the horizontal
equilibrium ∑Fx=0 cannot be solved
and there will be a net horizontal
force on the system with no
resistance.
3. The reactions are concurrent: All of
the reaction components meet at a
point. An example of such a
 situation is shown in Figure 6.
Effectively, the system is free to
rotate as a rigid body around the
point that the reaction components
meet at.
4. There is an internal collapse
mechanism: This is any situation in
which there is an internal
mechanism in the system that will
cause it to deform between the
supports. In some such situations,
this will be clear from the use of the
determinacy equations, but in
others, it may not. In all such cases,
though, the instability will become
clear during the structural analysis
because it will be impossible to
solve for all of the internal forces. An
example internal collapse
mechanism is shown in Figure 7.

Example Problem
Determine whether the following
structures shown in Figure 8 are externally
determinate, internally determinate,
externally indeterminate, internally
indeterminate or unstable. If a structure is
indeterminacy, determine how many
degrees of indeterminacy it has.

a) External Determinacy:
ie=r−(3+ec)
r=4,ec=1 (The
hinge on the
left at the pin
does not
provide any
additional equations of condition).
Therefore,
ie=0.
Then, is this structure statically determinate?
No, it is unstable because if we take a free-
body diagram of the left side of the beam,
and take a sum of moments about the center
hinge, the sum of moments will be non-zero
due to the vertical reaction at the left pin (but
we know that it has to be zero due to the
existence of the pin).
Internal Determinacy:
ie=(3m+r)−(3j+ec)
m=2,r=4,j=3,ec=1 (Again, the hinge on the left
at the pin does not provide any additional
equations of condition).
Therefore,
3m+r=10, 3j+ec=10, and ie=0.
Then, is this structure statically determinate?
No, it is unstable due to the same reason
above.

b) External Determinacy:
r=3,ec=0.
Therefore,
ie=0.
Then is this
structure
statically determinate? No, because the
reactions are concurrent through the pin on
the right.
Internal Determinacy:
m=2,r=3,j=3,ec=0.
Therefore,
3m+r=9 and 3j+ec=9,
so the structure appears internally
determinate, but it is still unstable due to the
concurrent reactions.
c) External Determinacy:
r=3,ec=0.
Therefore,
ie=0.
Since there are no sources of instability, this
structure is externally statically determinate.
Internal Determinacy:
m=6,r=3,j=6,ec=0.
Therefore,
3m+r=21 and 3j+ec=18,
so this structure is internally statically
indeterminate to three degrees (or "3º S.I.").
d) External Determinacy:
r=5,ec=2.
Therefore,
ie=0.
Since there are no sources of instability, this
structure is externally statically determinate.
Internal Determinacy:
m=5,r=5,j=6,ec=2.
Therefore,
3m+r=20 and 3j+ec=20,
so this structure is internally statically
determinate (or "S.D.").
e) External Determinacy:
r=7,ec=2.
(Due to the three
members
connected to the
internal hinge)
Therefore,
ie=2.
This structure can be described as 2 degrees
externally statically indeterminate.
Internal Determinacy:
m=3,r=7,j=4,ec=2.
Solving,
3m+r=16 and 3j+ec=14,
Again, this structure is found to be 2 degrees
internally statically indeterminate.
f) External Determinacy:
r=4,ec=2.
Therefore,
ie=−1.
Due to the design of the structure, the
internal roller cannot be supported and the
structure is classified as unstable.
Internal Determinacy:
m=2,r=4,j=3,ec=2.
Solving,
3m+r=10 and 3j+ec=−11,
We can safely say that this structure is
unstable, both by the equations of
determinacy and by understanding how the
structure will bend under loading.
However, if the right hand pin were a fixed-
end support this case would be considered a
stable, statically determinate structure.