DESC 1004 Building Principles

page 15

3 LOADS
Loads
The building materials impose dead loads Forces have magnitude, direction and position. (fixed, vertical) The occupants and contents impose live We can visualise which portion of the buildings loads is loads (variable, mostly vertical) transmitted to which structural element, by following the load Wind and earthquake impose loads paths. (variable, mostly horizontal) The loads exert forces on the building. We have to work with these forces and analyse them.

Tributary areas
A beam picks up the load halfway to its neighbours Each member also carries its own weight
Spa n of bea m
ea y ar utar am Trib be ne of o

Loads applied to different parts of a building will eventually have to be transferred to the foundations. The structure should provide a safe path for this load transfer. In order to design a structural element, it is necessary to determine the loads transferred to it by other building or structural elements. We often use a set of parallel beams. It is easy to visualise the area carried by each beam it is a rectangle as long as the span of the beams, and extending halfway toward each adjacent beam. Dont forget the horizontal wind loads carried by each piece of the walls. Turn this diagram around so that the beams are vertical columns.

Spa

cing

of b

eam

A column generally picks up load from halfway to In the common case of a series of columns in both directions, its neighbours each internal column carries the load on a rectangle halfway to It also carries the load that comes from the floors each of the adjoining rows. above Wyatt p 36 and following; Schodek p 213 Nonstructural building elements may also be required to transfer loads , if the loads do not act directly on the structure. This is particularly the case with the walls and windows.

Dead loads on elements

Length Thickness Load = Surface area x Wt per sq m, or volume x wt per cu m Height

Code values are given per cubic metre or square metre Multiply by the volume or area supported

Live loads on elements

Code values per square metre Multiply by the area supported

Distributed loads and point loads

Distributed Load Point Load

Floors, walls and roofs are generally distributed loads (kN per m) Other beams are point loads (kN)

Reactions

Effect of one member on another

The forces at the supports are the reactions For equilibrium, the reactions just balance the loads How does the ground know how hard to push up on my feet? The forces that each element exerts on its supports depend on the

Page 16
Load Reaction from beam

DESC 1004 Building Principles

loads on that element. These forces are reactions to the upper element, and loads on the lower one. It must be possible to follow the path of every load, all the way to the foundations.

How many reactions? The nature of the reactive forces that are possible will depend on Any 2-D element needs 3 reactions the type of support provided. If a particular direction of force, or Usually 2 vertical and one horizontal a moment reaction, is required but cannot be provided, then the The horizontal reaction is often zero structure is not satisfactory. No horizontal reaction = standing on rollerskates
Load Load H=0

Beam with 3 reactions

If the forces are all vertical, there should be the possibility of a horizontal reaction, but it will be zero until a horizontal force is introduced. (Otherwise it is like standing still on rollerskates).

If a body is subject to only two forces, the forces must be collinear for equilibrium Hence for a bar subject to forces at the ends only, the resultant force must be along the bar for equilibrium. If a body is subject to only three forces, the forces must be either concurrent or parallel. A minimum of three restraints are necessary to produce a stable structure. The restraints must not, however, be equivalent to either a parallel or concurrent force system. Provides vertical support only Allows rotation - no moment developed

Beam with only two reactions Types of reactions simple support

Simple support

Types of reactions cable support

Provides vertical support only Allows rotation - no moment developed

Cable support Types of reactions roller support Provides vertical support Deliberately avoids horizontal restraint (allows expansion)
Roller support

Types of reactions hinge support

Provides vertical support and horizontal restraint Allows rotation - no moment developed

Hinge support
Types of reactions rigid support Provides V, H, and moment restraint Suits cantilever beams or posts, and rigid frames Make sure you can physically achieve it!

Fixed support

DESC 1004 Building Principles

page 17

How big are the loads? Dead loads

How much does the stuff weigh? How much of each material is there? (We have to guestimate how big the elements are to start with) Appendix A of SAA loading code AS 1170.1 tabulates the unit weights of a number of materials and the weight per unit surface area of construction. Typical values are given in the table below (note that they are already in gravitational units) Typical values of uniformly distributed loads specified are given below (note that these loads are given in kPa, = kN/m2 , that is, per unit area of floor)

LIVE LOADS Occupancy or use Institutional buildings Assembly areas (class rooms, lecture rooms etc) Libraries (reading areas) Libraries (stacking areas) Office buildings (Offices, banks etc) Corridors, foyers etc (subject to crowd loading) offices Domestic buildings houses motels etc, rooms corridors 1.5 kPa 2.0 kPa 4.0 kPa 4.0 kPa 3.0 kPa 2.5 kPa 3.3 kPa per m of usable height Minimum live load

DEAD LOADS Bulk Material Weight/unit volume 23.5 kN/m3 11.0 kN/m3 76.9 kN/m3 25.5 kN/m3 19.0 kN/m3 Weight/unit area 0.22 kN/m2 0.43 kN/m2 0.11 kN/m2 1.73 kN/m2

Concrete, dense aggregate, unreinforced Timber, Australian hardwood Steel Glass Walls, brickwork (0.19 kN per 10mm thickness) = Sheet or surface Material Ceilings, Gypsum plaster, 13 mm thick Floors, Terrazo paving, 16 mm thick Roofs, fibre cement, corrugated sheeting 6mm thick Walls, concrete hollow block masonry 150 mm thick

3.0 kPa

Factors in wind speeds

General wind speed in the region (pressure varies with square of the speed) Local topography affects wind patterns Wind speed increases with altitude Wind speed decreases with terrain roughness
Very exposed More sheltered Wind

The Code deliberately gives these values to 2 or 3 significant figures. Any more precision is not warranted, since they are estimates of the weights of generic materials.

Live Loads
Building Codes give minimum values Domestic live loads range from 1.5 kPa Corridors and balconies are generally 4kPa, to allow for crowding Most stores and workshops are 5 kPa upwards AS 1170.1 specifies the minimum floor live loads to be considered for occupancy and floor use categories.

When the wind hits any obstruction, the pressure it produces will depend on: the local wind speed, and the shape of the object. Wind Speed At any location, longterm weather records will indicate the maximum wind speed expected at the standard 10m height used by meteorologists. (For Sydney, 41m/s maximum). For the particular building, this will be modified by:

Page 18

DESC 1004 Building Principles

The height of the building. Windspeed is less near the ground. The topography. Windspeed is greater at the top of a hill than in a valley. The terrain roughness. Wind near the ground is stronger over flat country or the ocean, than over trees or houses. The Wind Code has four different Terrain Categories. The basic pressure (i.e. if the air comes to a complete stop against an obstruction) goes up with the square of the wind speed. It is 0.6 V2 x 10-3 kPa (where V is the speed in m/s).

Windward face: pressure +0.8 times basic wind pressure Leeward face: suction, from -0.2 to -0.5 times basic wind pressure Side walls, suction -0.6 times basic wind pressure Roof, mostly suction, about -0.9 times basic wind pressure. In the case of a pitched roof facing the wind, pitches over about 30 develop pressure on the windward side (about +0.5 for steep pitches). Roofs tend to blow off rather than blowing inward. There will also be an internal pressure or suction, depending whether there are open doors and windows facing toward or away from the wind; the coefficient ranges from -0.3 for mainly leeward openings, to +0.8 for large windward openings. Normally you would close everything in a strong windstorm, but ... (see Cyclone section below). Each wall and the roof of the building are subject to a design wind force, F, which is the product of its area A and the nett wind pressure (pe - pi) on it.

Factors in wind loads

Shelter from anything permanent will reduce loads Shape of building (mostly boxy rather than streamlined) affects loads The shape of the building Most buildings are not streamlined like cars. Modern car makers boast about their low drag coefficients, the best being below 0.3 for smooth, curved body shapes. The total drag on the car (the sum of the pressure on the front face and the suction on the back) is the drag coefficient multiplied by the basic wind pressure, above. The drag coefficient for rectangular buildings is between 1.0 and 1.3. A house wouldnt do very well on the race track.

F surface = A (pe - pi). If A is the area of the

surface in m2, and pe and pi are the external pressures in kPa, then F will be the force on the surface in kN. For a small building in a sheltered location, wind loads are mostly in the range 0.5 to 1.0 kPa. For a taller building or an exposed location, wind loads are likely to be 1.0 to 2.0 kPa, and higher in cyclone areas.

Wind loads on buildings

Pressure on the windward face Suction on other faces Suction on lowpitched roofs Buildings need bracing and tying-down Wind can come from any direction Wind load is the main horizontal load on most buildings. The load can be pressure or suction on the walls, and on the roof. AS 1170.2 sets out two procedures for determining design wind speeds and wind loads
Suct ion

Wind loads on buildings

Wind tends to overturn a tall building
Pressure

Suction

Resisting moment

Wind loads on elements

Many variables involved in using Code values Multiply by the area exposed to wind In non-cyclone areas, wind loads in the 1kPa range Timber Framing Code has a procedure for finding maximum wind speeds Timber Framing Code also has simplified rules for bracing single-storey houses Localised extreme pressures The figures above are the average values for each wall, etc. Right near the corners, there can be localised pressures and suctions up to double these values. When you see photos of buildings damaged by the wind, it is often the ridge cappings and the corners worst affected.

Pressure

W in d d irect io n

To design elements in each wall and the roof, we need to know how the wind forces are distributed between the various surfaces. Remember that the windward side can be any side, depending on the wind direction. The average wind pressure coefficients vary a bit with the proportions, but are about:

DESC 1004 Building Principles

page 19

Fixings in these areas need to be especially well considered. Cyclone areas Coastal Australia north of Lat. 27 is subject to tropical cyclones. These produce very high winds, along with heavy rainfall. It can be assumed that most windows will be open (broken by flying debris). The ground will be softened by rain, so posts built in to the ground may not work as lateral load-resisting elements in these conditions. The wind changes direction rapidly, and tends to loosen nails. Special holding-down details are used in cyclone areas.

Seismic loads
Earthquakes cause damage by horizontal acceleration Heavy buildings attract more load Brittle materials fail, ductile materials may survive Positive connections are essential

If a tall building is likely to oscillate under earthquake conditions, then a thorough vibration analysis is necessary. Otherwise, an equivalent static load can be used as described below.
Seismic loads occur when the ground moves horizontally and the building tries to stay still. In the simplest analysis, the forces involved are the product of the mass of the building and the acceleration of the ground under it.

The horizontal forces due to earthquake are a function of the mass of the building. Lightweight buildings attract lower forces.
Ductile materials, with everything strongly connected together, are most likely to survive earthquake. Buildings with low and tall sections joined together, or with an open ground floor and rigid walls above, are most likely to be damaged. Masonry parapets and chimneys are easily dislodged, causing damage to the building and danger to people in the street.

Page 20

DESC 1004 Building Principles

Looking inside the elements Freebody diagrams

Elements as freebodies
Loads cut Beam actions from the removed part

We can isolate any member (or part of it) to study it We must put back artificial forces to replace whatever supports we cut away This is a useful tool to see inside a structure
Schodek p 45

Reaction

We can consider a system of forces and the necessary reactions to produce equilibrium in a whole building, or in a discrete element (such as a beam), or in any part of the structure we care to consider.

We do this by making imaginary cuts in the structure wherever we want to. All that is necessary is to carefully include all the external loads and reactions that act on that part of the structure, and also all the internal actions that are provided by the parts that we have cut away. The part we have cut out is sometimes called a freebody because it behaves as if it were a separate element. Usually, some of these internal actions are the unknowns that we want to find. By making the cuts at suitable places, we can find out most things we need to know. If a structure is in equilibrium under the action of external forces and reactions, we must check that the different components and parts of the elements of the structure are also in equilibrium.

Internal forces and moments are developed to hold the different parts of the structure together. (The members and connections must be able to withstand these internal forces). Finding the reactions of a beam

In writing equilibrium conditions for a part of the structure or structural element, these internal forces become external for that part of the structure or element. By first drawing the freebody diagram for the part, the equilibrium conditions can be derived. V = 0 tells us the total of the Vs H = 0 finds the horizontal reaction (if any) M = 0 lets us distribute the total between two ends

V = 0

H = 0

M = 0

Work smarter, not harder

W (central) W

Most beams are symmetrical If the reactions are equal, dont make hard work of it The left-hand beam is symmetrically loaded. The reactions are each half of the total load. End of story. For the right-hand one, a simple calculation is needed. That means you can pick any point on the page. Pick a point that eliminates one of the unknowns, to make it easy

R1 R2 Everything is symmetrical R1 = R2 = W/2

R1 R2 W is off centre R1, R2 must be calculated

The M condition says the sum of moments about any point is zero
W (known) W (known)

R1 R2 Only W and R2 have a moment about the dot

R1 R2 W, R1 and R2 have a moment about the dot

DESC 1004 Building Principles

page 21

Finding the reactions of a cantilever

M W 1 W2

A cantilever has one V, one H, and one M reaction Vertically: R = W1 + W2 Horizontally: H=0 unless there is a horizontal load

Moments: M = W1.x1 + W2.x2

x 2 x1

M is a negative moment see BEAMS section