Structural beam plays crucial role in the overall stability and safety of the building or structure. The process of determining the sufficiency of steel, wood or even a concrete beam is more or less the same.
Once you choose a beam, the process of structural analysis is as follows:
# Identify the live and dead loads
# Calculate the stresses
# Compare the allowable stresses against the actual stresses
Determine the Loads
First step in the structural beam analysis is identify the amount of load or weight the beam is going to support. There are two types of loads:
Dead Loads - this kind of loads are permanently attached to a structure such as weight of building materials, fixtures, etc. Many times loads of materials are exactly known and can be considered together to find out the total dead load. Sometimes the dead load is barely assumed and is added with an approximate weight.
Live Loads - this kind of load is temporarily placed on a structure such as loads from wind, vehicles, etc. The amount of live loads is referenced in regional building codes.
Calculating the Stresses:
While designing or analyzing a beam, two types of stresses are calculated: bending stress and shear stress. A more comprehensive knowledge of both shear tress and bending stress is required for beam analysis. In order to calculate the bending and shear stresses it is necessary to calculate the maximum shear and maximum bending moment that take place within the beam.
The maximum shear and moment will most commonly take place at various locations and the process used to identify their value is critical for overall stability of structure. The other two pieces of information needed to identify the stresses is the section modulus and cross sectional area of the beam. The section modulus and cross sectional area can be calculated, or in most cases can be found out in tables (like AISC Steel Manual for steel beams and the National Design Specification for wood).
Allowable Stress vs. Actual Stress:
For most structures the allowable stresses are mentioned in a design manual of some sorts (such as AISC Steel Manual for steel and the NDS for wood).
While carrying beam design analysis, one must choose right structural design software and cad techniques. Various engineering design software are available in the market for beams, columns, sections and foundation design. AutoCAD, StaddPro and Tekla are most sought after structural design software by structural engineers and designers.
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