Classifying Structures

Types of Structures
Natural
 Not made by people
 Occur naturally in the environment
 Mountains, spiders web, nests
Manufactured
 Built by people
 Many are modeled after natural structures
 Bridges, towers, artificial lakes
Classifying Structures
Mass Structures
 Canbe made by, piling up or forming similar
materials into a particular shape or design.
Mass Structures - Advantages
 Held in place by its own weight

 Losingsmall parts often has little effect on

the overall strength of the structure
Mass Structures – Examples

 Natural
 Mountains, coral reefs

 Manufactured
 Sand castles, dams and brick walls
Mass Structures - Properties
 Not always solid
 Layered and have hollowed out areas
 Great Pyramids of Egypt
 Must be heavy enough to stay in place
 Must not be too heavy to compact the earth
unevenly below it
 Must be anchored firmly
Frame Structures
 Made of a skeleton of strong materials

 Then filled and covered with other materials

 This support the overall structure.

 Most
of the inside part of the structure is
empty space.
Frame Structures - Advantages
 They are relatively easy to design and build

 Inexpensive to manufacture
Frame Structures - Examples
 Load-Bearing Walls
 The walls that support the load of the building.

 Partition Walls
 The walls that divide up the space inside the
building.

 Bicycles
 The frame supports the load it carries on the seat.
Shell Structures
 Keeps their shape and support loads
 without a frame, or solid mass material inside
 Made of a thin, carefully shaped, outer layer of
material
Shell Structures – Properties
 The shape of a shell structure spreads forces
throughout the whole structure
 Every part of the structure supports only a small
part of the load, giving it its strength.
Shell Structure - Advantages
 Two main features

 they are completely empty, so they make great

containers
 their thin outside layer means they use very little
material
Shell Structure: Disadvantages
 A tiny weakness or imperfection on the
covering can cause the whole structure to
fail.
 Flat materials are difficult to form into the
rounded shell shape.
 Must be very careful when joining pieces, so
it is strong and doesn’t collapse.
Shell Structures – Examples
 Natural
 Igloos
 turtle shell

 Manufactured
 Pop cans
 Domes in churches and mosques
Mix-n-Match
 Some structures are combinations of different types
of structures:
 Football helmets
 Shell structures -to protect the head
 Frame structure attached in front - to protect the face.
 Hydro-electric dams
 Are mass structures
 Frame structures inside to house the generators
Mix-n-Match Continued
 Airplanes
 frame structures
 Shell structure – outside 'skin' gives strength to
and makes it lightweight and flexible.

 Domed buildings
 combine shell and frame construction