The complete building structure can be broken down into

the following structural elements:

•Slabs
•Beams
•Columns
•Walls
•Bases and
•foundations
Beams
These are horizontal members carrying lateral loads

Slabs

These are horizontal plate elements forming floors and roofs in

buildings which normally carry uniformly distributed loads.
Slabs may be of the following types:

Simply supported slabs

Slabs continuous over one or more supports.
CLASSIFICATION OF SLABS ACCORDING TO SUPPORT
METHODS

Basing on support methods, slabs are classified as follows

Slabs spanning one way between beams or walls

Slabs spanning two ways between the support beams or walls
Flat slabs carried on columns and edge beams or walls with no
interior beams

Slabs spanning one way between beams or walls

CLASSIFICATION OF SLABS ACCORDING TO SUPPORT
METHODS CONT’D

Slabs spanning two ways between the support beams or walls

CLASSIFICATION OF SLABS ACCORDING TO SUPPORT
METHODS CONT’D

Flat slabs carried on columns and edge beams or walls with no

interior beams
FURTHER CLASSIFICATION OF SLABS

Slabs may be further classified as:

Solid slabs with uniform thickness or

Ribbed slabs with ribs running in one or two directions.

Slabs with varying depth are generally not used. Stairs with
various support conditions form a special case of sloping slabs.

Solid slab with uniform thickness

Ribbed slab with ribs running in two directions.

FURTHER CLASSIFICATION OF SLABS CONT’D

Ribbed slab with ribs running in one direction.

Columns

These are vertical members carrying primarily axial load.

Columns are generally subjected to axial load and moment

Walls
These are vertical plate elements resisting vertical, lateral or in-
plane loads

Foundations
These are structures supported directly by the ground. They
spread the loads from columns or walls so that they can be
supported by the ground without excessive settlement. The
common types of foundations are pad, strip, raft, grillage and
pile foundations.

 
Structural Design and structural analysis

Structural Design

The first function in design is the planning. This function is carried out
by the Architect to determine the arrangement and layout of the
building to meet the client’s requirements. The Structural Engineer
then determines the best structural system or forms to bring the
Architect’s concept into being. Construction in different materials and
with different arrangements and systems may require investigation to
determine the most economical answer. Architect and Engineer should
work together at this conceptual design stage.
Structural Design cont’d

Once the building form and structural arrangement have been

finalized, the structural design task starts and it consists of the
following:

1. Idealization of the structure into load bearing frames and elements

for analysis and design
2. Estimation of loads
3. Analysis to determine the maximum moments, thrusts and shears
for design
4. Design of sections and reinforcement arrangements for slabs,
beams, columns and walls using the results from 3 above
5. Production of arrangement and detailed working drawings and bar
schedules
Structural Analysis

The primary objective of structural analysis is to obtain a set of

internal forces and moments throughout the structure that are in
equilibrium with the design loads for the required loading
combinations.
Types of loads acting on Structures – Buildings and Other
Structures

The loads acting on structures for buildings and other structures can be
broadly classified as:

•Vertical loads,
•Horizontal loads and
•Longitudinal loads.

Vertical loads
The vertical loads consist of:

•Dead loads,
•Live loads or Imposed loads and
•Impact loads.
Types of loads acting on Structures cont’d

Horizontal loads
The horizontal loads comprises of:
•Wind load and
•Earthquake load.

Longitudinal loads
The longitudinal loads i.e. tractive and braking forces are considered
in special case of design of bridges, gantry girders etc.
Types of Loads on Structures

Generally loads acting on structures are of the following types:

•Dead loads
•Imposed loads or live loads
•Wind loads
•Snow loads
•Earthquake loads
•Stresses due to temperature variation
•Special loads
Dead Loads (DL)
These are permanent or stationary loads which are transferred to
the structure throughout the life span. Dead loads are primarily due
to self weight of structural members, permanent partition walls,
fixed permanent equipments and weight of different materials. It
majorly consists of the weight of roofs, beams, walls, slabs, ceilings
and columns etc. which are otherwise the permanent parts of the
building.

Dead loads are calculated from the unit weights given in BS 648:1964
“Schedule of Weights of building materials” or from the actual known
weights of the materials used. Where there is doubt as to the
permanency of dead loads, such loads should be treated as
imposed loads.

The calculation of dead loads of each structure is carried out by taking the
volume of each structure multiplied by the unit weight of the building material
constituting the structure.
2. Imposed Loads or Live Loads (IL or LL)
These are considered as movable or moving loads without any
acceleration or impact. They are assumed to be produced by the
intended use or occupancy of the building including weights of
movable partitions or furniture, , distributed, concentrated, impact
and inertia, loads, but excluding wind loads. Live loads keep on
changing from time to time.

Imposed Loads or Live Loads are suitably assumed by the designer.

It is one of the major loads in the design. The minimum values of
live loads to be assumed are given in BS 6399 –Parts 1, 2 & 3
“Loading for buildings - Code of practice for dead and imposed
loads”. The minimum values of live loads depend on the intended
use of the building. The BS 6399 – Part 3 gives the minimum values
for imposed roof loads while BS 2573 gives minimum values for
imposed loads due to cranes.
Wind loads
Wind load is primarily a horizontal load caused by the movement
of air relative to earth.

Wind load is required to be considered in structural design

especially when the height of the building exceeds two times the
dimensions transverse to the exposed wind surface, i.e. H ˃ 2L.

The calculation of wind loads depends on two factors, namely

velocity of wind and size of the building.

Up to a height of 30 m, the wind pressure is considered to act

uniformly. Above 30 m height, the wind pressure increases.
Wind loads

Wind load on buildings is estimated in accordance with CP3:

Chapter V: Part 2. The following factors are taken into
consideration:

1.The basic wind speed V which depends on the location in the

country.

2. The design wind speed Vs = V.S1.S2.S3 where S1 is a

topography factor normally taken as 1, S2 depends on ground
roughness, building size and height above the ground and S3 is a
statistical factor, normally taken as 1.
4. Snow Loads (SL)

Snow loads are considered only in the snow falling places. The
minimum snow load on a roof area or any other area above ground
which is subjected to snow accumulation is obtained by the
expression

S = µS0
Where S = Design snow load on plan area of roof.
µ= Shape coefficient, and
S0 = Ground snow load.
5. Earthquake Loads (EL)
Earthquake loads constitute to both vertical and horizontal forces on
the building.

The total vibration caused by earthquake may be resolved into three

mutually perpendicular directions, usually one taken as vertical and
two horizontal directions.

The movement in vertical direction do not cause forces in

superstructure to any significant extent. But the horizontal movement
of the building at the time of earthquake is to be considered while
designing.
Earthquake Loads (EL) cont’d

The response of the structure to the ground vibration depends on

the nature of foundation soil, size of foundation, mode of its
construction, duration and intensity of ground motion. However,
for monolithic reinforced concrete structures located in the
seismic zone 2, and 3 without more than 5 stories high and
importance factor less than 1, the seismic forces are not critical.
6. Other Loads and Effects acting on Structures

In addition to above load discussed, account shall be taken of the

following forces and effects if they are liable to affect materially
the safety and serviceability of the structure:
(a) Foundation movement
(b) Elastic axial shortening
(c) Soil and fluid pressure
(d) Vibration
(e) Fatigue
(f) Impact
(g) Erection loads and
(h) Stress concentration effect due to point load and the like.
LOADS USED IN DESIGNING

Characteristic loads or service loads and

Design loads

Characteristic loads
These are the actual loads that the structure is designed to carry.
They are normally thought as the maximum loads which will not be
exceeded during the life of the structure. In statistical terms the
characteristic loads have a 95% probability of not being exceeded.

The characteristic loads used in design are defined in BS8110: Part

1
Characteristic dead load Gk
This is the self-weight of the structure and the weight of finishes,
ceilings, services and partitions;

Characteristic imposed load Qk

This load caused by people, furniture, equipment etc. on floors and
snow on roofs. Imposed loads for various types of buildings are given
in BS6399: Part 1

Characteristic wind load Qk

The characteristic load in each case should be the appropriate load as defined
in and calculated in accordance with BS 6399-1, BS 6399-2 and BS 6399-3.
Nominal earth loads En
Nominal earth loads should be obtained in accordance with normal
practice (see, for example, BS 8004).

2.4.1.3 Partial safety factors for load ˠf

The design load for a given type of loading and limit state is
obtained from:
Gk ˠf or Qkˠf or Wkˠf or Enˠf

Where ˠf is the appropriate partial safety factor. It is introduced to

take account of unconsidered possible increases in load,
inaccurate assessment of load effects, unforeseen stress
redistribution, variation in dimensional accuracy and the
importance of the limit state being considered. The value of ˠ f
chosen also ensures that the serviceability requirements can
generally be met by simple rules.

Design dead Load = Gk ˠf

Design imposed load = Qk ˠf

Design wind load = Wkˠf

Load
combinatio
n

1. Dead
and
imposed
(and earth
and
water
pressure)

2. Dead and
wind (and
earth and
water
pressure)