Structural Form, Function and Design Philosophy 3 (U02540)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 9 ? Acronym : EEL-3-CVSFP

This course gives an introduction to the full discipline of structural design and analysis, identifying key ideas that are used in different courses within the complete degree programme, and putting them in proper relationship to one another. It also covers many items that do not appear anywhere else in the degree programme but which are nonetheless critical to an overall understanding of structures and their design. It deals with the functional role of different kinds of structure, the structural forms that are required to address these roles, the dominant factors in the behaviour of each kind of structure and the consequent simplifications that can be used to lead to an understanding of the behaviour. It then deals with the philosophy of design, limit state concepts, ductility and stability and their implications for simplifications that are possible in design calculations. It then deals with different classes of analysis of structures and the kinds of results that can be obtained from each, finishing with fundamental theorems of structural mechanics and their application to different classes of problem.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Structural Mechanics 2A (U00460) Structural Mechanics 2B (U00461)

? Co-requisites : Theory of Structures 3 (U00317)

? Prohibited combinations : Construction Management 3 (U00315) Environmental Engineering 3 (U00322)

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Civil, (School of Engineering and Electronics, Schedule M)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
24/09/2007	14:00	15:50			Classroom 2, Sanderson Building

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	14:00	15:50	KB

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course the student should be able to:
- describe different standard structural forms and explain the manner in which they can be used to deal with functional requirements;
- describe the dominant load carrying processes in different structural systems, and the way in which these influence design concepts;
- describe the kinds of simplified analysis that are appropriate to each structural system, explaining why each is appropriate, and defining the critical factors that dominate in controlling the strength of each system;
- explain limit state analysis, its objectives, statistical basis and the role of safety factors;
- explain the concept of ductility, identifying the difference between the ductility of a material and the ductility of structural behaviour, quoting examples where these differ from each other in one structure;
- explain the concept of structural instability, including the difference between stability of an element and stability of a structural system;
- describe linear and non-linear analyses that can be made of structures, their roles in design and the manner in which the results must be interpreted for safe design;
- use the fundamental theorems of structural mechanics to solve simple problems in elasticity.