Strength The structure must be strong enough to carry the applied loads.

. Stiffness The structure must be stiff enough such that only allowable deformation occurs. Stability The structure must not collapse through buckling subjected to the applied Compressive loads. The resultant of all applied forces, including support reactions, must be zero. The resultant of all applied moments, including bending and twisting moments, must be zero. Failure is a condition that prevents a material or a structure from performing the intended task. What is the upper limit of stress that can be reached in the material of the beam? The answer to this question provides a strength criterion that can be adopted in the design of the beam. An upper limit at which the stressstrain relationship departs from linear is called the proportional limit, pl An upper limit at which permanent deformation starts is called the yield strength, Yield. An upper limit, that is the maximum stress a material can withstand is called the ultimate strength, U What is the maximum tip deflection that is acceptable? The answer to this question provides a stiffness design criterion that represents the stiffness or the resistance of an elastic body to deformation. Factors that influence stiffness of a structural member include material modulus, structural configuration and mode of loading. For example, the tip deflection of a cantilever varies if the materials, length, shape of cross-section or the applied load change.

Strength and stiffness are measurements of resistance to failure. Violation of any of the above criterions is defined as failure. In a typical design, a primary task is to choose materials and member dimensions such that: stresses are maintained below the limits for the chosen materials Deformations are maintained below the limits for the structure application. An applied force can be in the form of point load, distributed load or moment. An applied load causes deformation and eventually failure of a structure. An applied force causes internal forces/stresses. Stress is defined as intensity of internal force at a point of material. A stress has magnitude and direction, and is always related to a special plane (crosssection). Normal stress is a stress that is perpendicular to a cross-section and causes tension or Compression. Shear stress is a stress that is parallel to a cross-section and causes distortion or twisting. Strain is a measurement of relative deformation at a point of material, and is a Non-dimensional quantity. Normal strain represents either an elongation or a contraction. Shear strain is measurement of distortion, measured by change of a right angle. The relationship between stresses and strains depends on properties of materials. For linear elastic materials, the relationship is called Hookes law. For a linearly elastic and isotropic material, E, G and are related and only two of them are independent. Different materials normally have different strength and the strength depends only on property of material. Stiffness of a member depends on not only property of material, but also geometrical and loading conditions; stiffness is not a property of material. Proportional limit, pl is the upper limit at which the stressstrain relationship departs from linear. Yield strength, Yield is the upper limit at which permanent deformation starts. Ultimate strength, U is the maximum stress a material can withstand.