INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN

1.1 ROLES OF THE STRUCTURAL ENGINEER;

The structural engineer’s roles can be looked as falling into the following categories;

The design and hence crafting of an assembly of elements that form new structures.
The structural engineer works with other team members to evolve a form for a
structure that meets a number of requirements determined by the client,
environment, other team members and budgets.

The structural engineer is sometimes called to evaluate any existing structure for
change in use or increased loads. Such loads may arise from new services, heavy
or additional loads. Thereafter, the engineer may be called to come up with proposals
for reinforcement.

1.2 MEDIUMS OF CONSTRUCTION

a) The mediums for use for construction comprise of the following

b) Masonry in its various forms-baked or cement bricks, earth bricks, -baked or
unbaked, good in compression, fire resistance and resistance to the weather
c) Concrete- plane, reinforced, pre stressed—see above for strengths
d) Steel -various grades from mild steel to high tensile steel, stainless steel.
other metals and materials such as aluminium, copper, bronze usually in
specialist components such as bearings – poor fire resistance, precautions
necessary to protect against degradation from the elements
e) Timber-various types in use… behaviour affected by moisture content and
direction of load. Different strength along the grain and across the grain for
natural timber. Laminated timber –

1.3 ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURES

TYPE OF ELEMENT MEDIUM OF CONSTRUCTION

Beams[ joist] / planks concrete /steel /timber

Slabs concrete

Columns concrete /steel /timber

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 TYPE OF ELEMENT MEDIUM OF CONSTRUCTION

Girders concrete /steel

Foundations Concrete

Foundations- piles Concrete, concrete encased steel, timber

Trusses Steel, timber

2.1 STRUCTURES IN A NUTSHELL

A structure is an integrated assembly of man-made or man-modified units put together into a

system whose purpose is to provide containment of activity and / or support for essential
services. It will in the process resist both manmade and natural forces and channel then
through a predetermined system in a predictable manner to the supporting ground. This
system at all stages should be able to resist/ withstand all associated loads and transfer
these forces effectively through a number of successive structural units which act as a
conduit for the forces down to the foundation and the ground..

2.2 TYPICAL STRUCTURES-A REVIEW

Structural engineers are responsible for the detailed analysis and design of:

a) Housing in a broad sense: Buildings, houses, factories. In certain instances of these,

they must work in close cooperation with an architect and other disciplines of engineering.

b) Civil Infrastructure: Bridges, pipelines, dams, harbours, canals, power stations,

transportation structures. In a number of these cases, the Structural Engineer is the key
player.

c) Specialist Structures: Military, Naval, Aerospace structures etc

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3.0 STAGES IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN

3.1 Establish the Client ‘s Brief- The starting point is establishing what is required of the
engineer from the Client. The Engineer may work as the Principal agent of the client where
he oversees the entire project including areas whose detail is evolved and generated by
others such as the Architect and Service Engineers.

In other cases, the structural Engineer may work under another lead player, usually the
Architects, where the Engineers role is primarily focused on the structural aspects of project.
Even in such cases, the Engineer is responsible for some level of coordination with other
team players.

3.2 Conceptual Design–

a) Overlapping with confirmation of the clients brief is the evolution of the structure partly
based on application of engineering principles, experience and intuition but also
modulated to a large extent by budgets and input from other team members.

b) This stage is accompanied by scheme drawings with sufficient detail for others to
understand the engineer’s intent and validated by calculations. This process is also
largely supported by historical data where such is available.

3.3 Detailed Design–

During this stage the chosen scheme is subjected to detailed analysis using principles of
structural mechanics, computer models etc. The final product must be consistent with the
requirements for safety, serviceability and economy. At this stage more drawings and details
are produced,

3.4 Design Implementation–

This is the crowning moment when construction is starts. The design, with adjustments to
suit any hurdles and additional requirements encountered during construction, is now
implemented. For elements such as foundations, flexibility is needed since what may be
encountered during construction may be quite different from what samples indicated.
Budgets constraints limit the practicality of sufficiently extensive geotechnical survey such
that adjustment during construction would never be necessary.

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4.0 DOCUMENTATION FROM THE DESIGN PROCESS

The output typically consists of the following;

a) Design calculations. They form the basis of the drawings and details

b) Design drawings. Drawings are the main form of communication between the design
and the constructing team. There could be a number of different types of drawings from
different groups depicting various stages of the construction.eg architect’s drawings,
structural engineer’s drawings including reinforcement schedules, Mechanical / Electrical
Engineers drawings [ M& E] etc.

c) Design specifications. These are normally written instructions referring to codes of

practice, construction standards and sometimes specific experience and specialist
instructions to cover construction procedures. For example, concrete mix requirements,
curing, construction tolerances etc. Together with the drawings, they are a very important
part of documentation required for transforming the design into a tangible structure and
giving guidance to the contractor.

5. THE ENGINEERS ROLE – A SUMMARY

The Engineer together with the rest of team, must conceive and produce a cost effective
structure that meets expectations in terms of aesthetics, functionality, budget, durability and
safety. The structure should withstand the intended loads and tolerate some abuse within
reason. Even when pitted against the rage of the elements of nature such as earthquakes,
winds and so forth, the structures should allow some opportunity for escape even in failure.

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EXAMPLES OF DRAWINGS;

TOWER FOUNDATION LAYOUTS

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7. DESIGN METHODS

7.1 Elastic Or Working Stress Design Approach;

Classic method of design developed in the 1900 used the elastic theory of structures as
the basis for analysis and subsequent design. This was reflected in British concrete
code, CP114 and companion codes of practice for structural steel. The assumption for
design purposes was that these construction materials, including concrete, behaved in a
perfectly elastic manner. For reinforced concrete, it was assumed that steel and
concrete formed a perfect and permanent bond and remained in contact in an elastic
state in throughout the load cycle in service Thus the modular ratio, i.e. the ration of
the Young’s moduli, was a satisfactory way of determining stress in that the materials
shared the same strain .This is deductable from the deemed assumption that concrete
and reinforcing steel remained in perfect bond hence deformed the same. A factor of
safety was applied to the material strength to ensure that safe stresses where not
exceeded under the design loads. For concrete, a factor of safety was 3 based on the
cube strength and for steel 2

a) The above method did not cater for the non elastic behaviour of concrete neither did
it accommodate the plastic stage of deformation. While there was a factor of safety
used on the material stress, there was less clarity on the overall factor of safety
against the structural failure.

b) Because of the complex behaviour of concrete , its complexity as a construction

material, impact of shrinkage, cracking and non elastic behaviour of concrete with
increasing load, the this design approach is removed from real behaviour. The
concrete / steel bond fails at some stage because of concrete’s inherent tension
weakness thus giving way to other mechanisms of load transfer between steel and
surrounding concrete Furthermore, Young’s modulus for concrete is largely
variable, being influenced by such factors as cracking and the variations in
composition between adjoining zones of the structure.

c) The method tended to yield higher areas of reinforcing steel in compression bars in
designs where the compression reinforcement was required than given in modified
design approaches when used then later developments thus adversely impacted on
economy of design in those instances

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 7.2 Load Factor Or Ultimate Strength Design Method

This was based on the evaluation of maximum achievable strength of the section based on
analysis of the non plastic range of stress. From this analysis the maximum load that the
structure could carry was determined. Thereafter, a working load was arrived at using a
global factor of safety. Various types of load could be combined.

The method took advantage of post elastic capacity of the materials .The drawback was that
there was no provision for dealing with serviceability concerns. This were addressed by
reverting back to procedures related to working stress approach. While it was a definite
improvement from the working stress method of design, it did address other concerns such
as serviceability

7.3 Limit State Design Method

The short comings with the first two design approaches enumerated above lead to the limit
state design approach developing, starting with concrete and later followed by structural
steel in subsequent years

The basis of the approach is that there is a need for design to have an acceptable margin of
safety against various limiting conditions of usefulness for the structure known as limit
states. The limiting conditions evaluated consist of the following;

7.3.1 Ultimate limit states (Disaster).

a) Collapse, buckling or overturning
b) Fatigue or brittle fracture

7.3.2 Serviceability limit states (Nuisances)

c) Excessive deformation
d) Local damage
e) Excessive vibration or oscillation
f) Loss of durability.
g) Rapid loss of strength when subjected to fire (fire resistance)
h) Intolerable damage as a result of significant overload

The approach considers the various different conditions that challenge usefulness or
perception of the structure compared to intension. The fundamentals the of limit state design
are:

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a) All separate conditions that can make the structure unfit for use as per original intention
are identified. These separate conditions are known as limit state as already summarised
above
b) The design process endeavours to reflect the real behaviour of the materials including
the plastic deformation range and the real performance of the structure and members in
service.
c) Concepts from statistics are included to reflect the variation of materials and ascertain
acceptable confidence that critical strength parameters are not exceeded.

Thus the design process strives to ensure that the probability of any limit state being
reached is kept within acceptable limits.

The method identifies the particular mode of behaviour that a design procedure is intended
to avoid and it provides a framework against which account can be taken of the different
degrees of risk. Strengths are calculated using plastic theory and post buckling behaviour
The following risks and potential flaws in the design are taken into consideration;
 Variability of design strength,
 Fluctuations in loads
 Construction imperfections

7.4.1 Loads General -Experience and analysis have lead to codes of practice being
developed and upgraded regularly. These give some of the design loads such as live and
environmental loads in conjunction with suitable partial factors of safety. Statistical theories
may apply partially to some of the loads such as wind etc while other loads are based on the
dictates of acceptable practice

.Structures are required to sustain dead, imposed and environment loads. Typically, dead
loads are calculated using densities of materials.

7.4.2 Partial factors of safety – are introduced to take into account uncertainties of
loading level, variability of material strength, imperfections in erection and fabrication, errors
in design assumptions and etc.

7.4.3 Material properties-The ability of a structure to support loads largely depends on the
strength of the material which the engineer decides to use on the structure. The engineer
must appreciate strengths and weakness in the given material. Strength is by and large the
most important property of a material the engineer needs to know.

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Other important properties which an engineer needs to know are;
a) Modulus of elasticity
b) Corrosion resistance.
c) Fire resistance
d) Stability of the material in aggressive durability environments eg concrete in salt in the
sea, sulphates , various products in industry etc

7.3 Characteristic strength of materials

For both concrete and reinforcement, the code uses the term ‘characteristic strength’ instead
of 28-day works cube strength and yield stress. The characteristic strength is closely related
to the above as explained below. The characteristic strength represents the value below
which not more than 5% of all possible test results would be expected to fall.

Based on normal distribution curve according to the principals of statistics, the value
therefore is the mean strength minus 1.64x the standard deviation of actual test results .

[ i.e. Based on normal distribution according to the principals of statistics, the value therefore
is 𝑓𝑘 = 𝑓𝑚 − 1.64𝑠
Where 𝑓𝑚 is the mean strength of actual test results determined in accordance with a laid
down “standard procedure”, 𝑠 is the standard deviation, and 1.64 is the value of the
constant multiplier to comply with the 5% limits above, this being derived from statistics].

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 7.6 Characteristic loads

For loading, the ‘characteristic’ load is the basis of design. Ideally, if the normal
statistical laws governed this parameter, the characteristic load would be that value of
loading such that not more than 5% of the range of loading exceeds this value.
Notwithstanding practical surveys and observations made, there is no definite
statistical correlation in load values and load surveys. For the most part, the overall
imposed loads used in design on floors are well above the loading that occurs most of
the time. In local areas, they may be exceeded but over an extensive zone, generally,
the loads are considerable less. Environmental loads such as wind , are to some extent
governed by statistical principles.

Thus the graph below giving indication of characteristic load represents a desirable
outcome rather than a practical reality at this stage

7.7 Design strengths of materials[ deduced from characteristic strength above]

The design strengths of materials is the characteristic strengths divided by the partial safety
The partial factor safety is an allowance of possible differences between the material in the
actual structure and strength derived from tests specimens. In concrete this would cover
such items as insufficient compaction, difference in curing etc.

For reinforcement it would cover such items as the difference between assumed and actual
cross-sectional areas caused by rolling tolerances, corrosion etc. The values of for each
material will be different for the different limit states by virtue of the different probabilities that
can be accepted.

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Values of 𝜰𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔
Values of 𝛶𝑚
Limit state Concrete Steel
Ultimate 1.5 1.15
Deflection 1.0 1.0
Cracking 1.3 1.0

Deflection is related to the whole member and the factor for both materials is 1.0. For
cracking only parts of the member are affected and a factor between 1.0 and 1.5 for
concrete has been selected, but kept at 1.0 for reinforcement. When one is analysing any
cross-section within the structure the properties of the materials should be assumed to be
those associated with their design strengths appropriate to the limit state being considered.

For loads, various partial factors of safety are associated with each limit sate as illustrated
below

Values of partial factors for loads , 𝜰, at various combinations of ultimate limit state
LOAD TYPE
LOAD DEAD DEAD IMPOSED IMPOSED EARTH/ WIND
COMBINATION
WATER

Adverse Beneficial Adverse Beneficial Earth & Wind

Pressure
1 Dead and imposed (and 1.4 1.0 1.6 0 1.4 -
earth, water pressure)
2 Dead and Wind (and earth 1.4 1.0 - - 1.4 1.4
and water pressure)
3 Dead and imposed (and 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
earth and water pressure)

The arrangement of loads should be such as to cause the most severe effects, i.e. the most
severe stresses. The ‘adverse’ partial factor is applied to any loads that tend to produce a
more critical design condition. The ‘beneficial’ factor is applied to loads that tend to produce
a less critical condition So in a normal building structure with dead and imposed loads, the
maximum design load on a span from load combination (1) is 1.4𝐺𝑘 + 1.6𝑄𝑘 . The minimum
design load is 1.0𝐺𝑘

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