THEORY OF

STRUCTURES
ENGR. EDMAR C. TOLEDO
Instructor
 Why beams width less than its
depth?
Beams' depth is greater than its width because it
can bear more load and develops less stress in it.
This type of section have also more moments of
inertia. It reduces the chance of failure of the beam
section. It can be easily understood by the
diagram given below.
This type of section has more compressive
strength and is more beneficial.
To resist the bending moment caused by
transverse loading acting on the beam, the depth
of the beam (parallel to the loading plane) is to be
increased.
This is why we provide more depth to the beam
than its width.(b/h)
DETERMINACY AND
STABILITY OF
STRUCTURE
Objectives of the Study
❑ Familiarize the number of reactions, unknown Forces &

internal forces in a structure

❑ To practice in determining the determinacy of structure using

reactions, internal forces & equations of equilibrium

❑ To examine the stability of a structure

❑ To know the difference between determinate and indeterminate

❑ To know the importance of determining the stability &

determinacy in building a structure

Type of Forces

External Forces
➢ Applied forces and reactions forces

Internal Forces
➢ The forces and couples exerted on a member or
portion of the structure by the rest of the structure
INTERNAL STABILITY
A structure is considered to be internally stable or
rigid, if it maintains its shape and remains a rigid body
when detached from the supports.
INTERNAL STABILITY
➢ A structure is considered to be internally unstable or
nonrigid, if it cannot maintain its shape and may
undergo large displacement when not supported
externally.
STABILITY
➢ To ensure the equilibrium of a structure or it’s
members, it is not only necessary to satisfy the
equations of equilibrium, but the members must
also be properly held or constrained by their
supports.

2 Situations for proper constraints have not been met:

1. PARTIAL CONSTRAINTS
2. IMPROPER CONSTRAINTS
PARTIAL CONSTRAINTS
➢ In some cases a structure or one of its members have
fewer reactive forces than equations of equilibrium
that must be satisfied
IMPROPER CONSTRAINTS
➢ In some cases there may be as many unknown forces
as there are equations of equilibrium, however,
instability or movement of a structure or its members
can develop because of improper constraining by
supports.

The line of forces is

concurrent or
parallel forces
IMPROPER CONSTRAINTS
➢ In some cases there may be as many unknown forces
as there are equations of equilibrium, however,
instability or movement of a structure or its members
can develop because of improper constraining by
supports.
The line of forces is
concurrent or parallel
forces
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY

STABILITY
UNSTABLE
• If number of unknown is less than
the number of equations (U < E)

• The line of forces is concurrent or

parallel forces
 Determinacy of Internally Stable
Statically Determinate
➢ The number of unknowns is equal to number of
equations (U = E)

➢ When the unknown forces can be computed using

the equilibrium equations

Statically Indeterminate
➢ When the number of unknown forces is more than
the equilibrium equations
➢ If a structure is indeterminate, it is necessary to add
equation to solve unknown reaction of forces
 “As general rule, a STABLE STRUCTURE
can be identified as being either statically
determinate or statically indeterminate.”
DETERMINACY

A. FOR BEAMS & PIN C. FOR TRUSSES

CONNECTED STRUCTURE
U=E
U=E
ER + IR = 2(J)
ER + IR = 3(M)
Where:
B. FOR FRAMES
U = Number of Unknowns
E = Number of known Equations
U=E M = Number of Members
J = Number of Joints
ER + IR = 3(J) ER = Number of External Reactions
IR = Number of Internal Reactions
BEAMS & PIN CONNECTED
STRUCTURE
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
BEAMS & PIN CONNECTED STRUCTURE

a.) b)
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
BEAMS & PIN CONNECTED STRUCTURE
c.) d.)
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
BEAMS & PIN CONNECTED STRUCTURE
e.) f.)
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
BEAMS & PIN CONNECTED STRUCTURE
g.)
h.)
FRAME STRUCTURE
STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
FRAMES
STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
FRAMES
TRUSS STRUCTURE
External Stability
A structure (or truss) is externally unstable if all of its reactions are concurrent or parallel. For
example, the two trusses are externally unstable since the support reactions have lines of action
that are either concurrent or parallel.
 STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
TRUSSES
Internal Stability
The internal stability of a truss can often be checked by careful inspection of the arrangement of its
members. If it can be determined that each joint is held fixed so that it cannot move in
a “rigid body” sense with respect to the other joints, then the truss will be stable
STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
TRUSSES
STRUCTURAL STABILITY AND DETERMINACY OF
TRUSSES