STRUCTURAL DESIGN

PHILOSOPHIES

DR ABDUL MUNEM KHAN

 THE WORD “DESIGN”
According to Oxford Dictionary, the word design means,
• an outline, sketch, or plan, a structure of a work, a piece of
art, an edifice, or a machine to be manufactured constructed
• organization or structure of formal elements in a work
• the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc
• to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans
• to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of
art, decorative scheme, etc
 THE WORD “PHILOSOPHY”
• A theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for
behavior or act
• The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge,
reality, and existence, especially when considered as an
academic discipline
• A particular system of philosophical thought
• The study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch
of knowledge or experience
 DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
A design philosophy or design concept is the idea behind
a design
It's how we plan on solving the design problem in front of us
It's the underlying logic, thinking, and reasoning for how
you'll design a structure
Your concept will lead to your choices related your design
 ENGINEERING DESIGN
Engineering design is the process of devising a system,
component, or process to meet desired needs.

It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which

the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering
sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to
meet a stated objective.

Among the fundamental elements of the design process

are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis,
analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation.
 ENGINEERING DESIGN

The engineering design component must

include most of the following features:

• creativity and esthetics

• open-ended problems,
• development and use of modern design theory and
methodology,
• formulation of design problem statements and
specifications,
• consideration of alternative solutions,
 ENGINEERING DESIGN

• feasibility considerations,
• production processes,
• concurrent engineering design,
• detailed system descriptions

Further, it is essential to include a variety of realistic

constraints such as economic factors, safety,
reliability, aesthetics, ethics, and social impact
 STRUCTURAL DESIGN

Structural design should be performed to satisfy the

criteria for
Strength : general integrity and safety of the structure
under extreme load conditions
Serviceability : proper functioning of the structure as
related to its appearance, maintainability, and durability
under normal, or service load, conditions.
Economy : overall material, construction, and labour
costs required for the design, fabrication and
maintenance processes of the structure
 STRUCTURAL DESIGN

A structural design project may be divided into

three phases (each phase can have its sub
phases), i.e.

• Planning
• Design
• Fabrication
 DESIGN PROCESS

Design is a structured problem-solving activity

Process is a phenomenon identified through

step-by-step changes that lead toward a
required result

Cyclic and iterative process

 1.Identify
10. the need
Communicati 2. Define
on problem

9.
Specificatio 3. Search
n solutions

Iterative Design
8. Decision Process
4. Identify
Constraints

7. Analysis
6. 5. Apply
Alternativ Criteria
e
solutions
12
 THREE-PHILOSOPHIES

Safe – Life Approach

Fail – Safe Approach

Slow – Crack Growth Approach

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 SAFE – LIFE
Safe-life refers to the philosophy that the
component or system is designed such that it
should not fail within a certain, defined period

• Employed in critical systems, very difficult to

repair
• The component remain crack free during its
service life
• The benefit of safe-life designs includes reducing
the likelihood of unplanned maintenance and
reducing the likelihood of any failure
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 SAFE-LIFE DESIGN

• Drawbacks
 over-built

 more resources

• Alternative design philosophies

Z 42 IS MADE WITH SAFE LIFE
PHILOSOPHY
 FAIL – SAFE APPROACH
A fail-safe is a device or system that is
designed to remain safe in the event of a
failure. A fail-safe isn't designed to prevent
failure but mitigates failure when it does occur
• Structures are designed such that propagating
damage is safely contained after failing a major
load path by load shift to adjacent intact
elements
• Multiple load path structure
• Crack arrest structure
 SLOW – CRACK GROWTH
APPROACH

Slow – Crack Growth Approach

(Damage Tolerance Approach)
• Similar to Fail – Safe approach
• With more stress on crack growth from flaws

• Structures are designed such that initial

damage will grow at a stable, slow rate under
service environment

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 SLOW CRACK GROWTH

Damage tolerance (and thus safety) is assured

only by the maintenance of a slow rate of
growth of damage, a residual strength capacity

Sub-critical damage will either be detected at

the depot or will not reach unstable
dimensions within several design life times
LET US NOW LOOK AT
SOME MORE DESIGNS
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME MORE GENERAL DESIGN
CONSIDERATIONS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS & SPECIFICATIONS OF A PRODUCT,
WHICH INFLUENCE THE DESIGN OF A PRODUCT AT LARGE,
INCLUDES, FORM, AESTHETICS, STYLING, SURFACE
FINISH, SIZE, SHAPE, TOPOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, WEIGHT,
VOLUME, FUNCTION, CAPABILITIES, UTILITY, FLEXIBILITY,
CHARACTERISTICS, SPECIFICATIONS, FUNCTIONALITY,
PROCESSING, FIT, INTEGRITY, ANTIFAILURE, STRENGTH,
STIFFNESS, THERMAL CONSIDERATION, CORROSION,
WEAR, FRICTION, VIBRATION, NOISE, CRASH,
ERGONOMIC, CONTROL, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR,
OVERHAULING, QUALITY, RELIABILITY, ENVIRONMENT,
HEALTH, SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITY, COST, ECONOMICS,
CUSTOMER VALUE, ETC.
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