Regardless of how the amount of earthquake load is computed, we need to know how it is going to be distributed in each story. Then we can find out which structural members are more critical than others and we can also optimized our structural design by using reasonable justifications. If Fi is a resultant of […]
As we have discussed in the previous article, earthquake happens when a huge amount of energy is released due tectonic plates movements. The immediate outcome of earth is sudden movement of the ground located in the vicinity of earthquake center. The huge amount of energy is transferred throughout the ground layers in all directions until […]
Earthquake loading lesson 1 Earthquake loading is usually a reminisce of striking ground movements for all of us. Its been always a frightening matter for occupants as well as structural engineers. Unfortunately there are many common mistakes in both construction and design of multi-story buildings that eventually lead to collapse. As a result I have […]
Factors of safety is an indicator of reliability for geotechnical structures such as embankment dams and soil slopes. Safety factor accounts for uncertainties of design loads and inaccuracies of input values. It is noteworthy that a higher safety factor does not necessarily lead to a lower probability of failure, as the analysis also depends on the […]
Live loads are applied temporary during the lifespan of the structure. they are usually changeable and dynamic. Some examples of live load are the weight of occupants, furniture, equipment and vehicle traffic. Live load can be either concentrated or distributed. However their magnitude are variable, design codes define equivalent loads for different cases. Since their magnitude is not constant, the […]