4/23/2015

UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

UnderstandingStructures
Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

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September30,2012

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TheappiscalledStructures:avisualexplorationandteachesstructuralbehaviorallthrough
diagrams,animations,andcomparisons.Notext.Noequations.
ManyoftheconceptsintheappcamefromthoughtsdevelopedwhilewritingthisblogandIdescribe
theminmoredetailonmyappwebsitehere:
http://www.understandingstructures.com/development.php
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RecentPosts
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AsideonTestingandUnderstanding
Whoasksthequestionshere?
FrameExample2of2:SimmonsHall
FrameExample1of2:Whyunderstanding
framebehaviorisimportant
ClassonFramestoarchitectsandengineers
Classonbendingmomentstoarchitects
Wastedpapernapkinsinouruncertainworld
TrussesandBeamstoArchitectsand
Engineers
Classoncolumnstoarchitects
Jointarchitectsandstructuralengineers
class:cablesandarches
Asideoncablesandmusic
Secondclasstoarchitectsonly:Cables(and
abitonArches)
Syllabusandtheprimarycolorsofstructure
Firstclasstoengineers

PaulKassabian

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AsideonTesting
and
Understanding
January29,2012
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Ineitherteachnortestmystudentswithamultiplechoiceformat.Itsalazyapproach(Ididitonce6
yearsagoanddeeplyregretit).Myfocusisthatthearchitectsunderstandstructuralbehaviorrather
thanlearnhowtogetananswerfromanequation.

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APRIL2015

Idontlikemultiplechoicequestionandanswerbecauseitsnotasensibleapproachtojudgingthe
studentsunderstandingofthesubjectandtheirabilitytothink.Itsalsonotrealistic.Idontknow

anyprofessionwhereyoureprovidedwithallrequiredinformation,andtheoneandonlycorrect
answerisanoptionpresentedtoyou.

Thefactis,multiplechoicetestsarereallygoodattestingifyouregoodattakingmultiplechoice
tests.

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Ifarchitectstakemultiplechoicetestsforthingslikestructuralengineeringthen,notonlyisitapoor
Enteryouremailaddress
testoftheirunderstanding,itformstheincorrectopinionthatstructuralengineeringisaboutsolving
equationsandgettingtherightanswer.Novalueisplacedonjudgment,opinion,creativityetc.
Hence,theonlywaytodistinguishbetweenengineersisonfee.Thisseemssimilartothecurrent
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situationtoday.
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Maybeworse,engineeringstudentswhotakemultiplechoicetestsmightthinksolvingequations(or
performingotherrepetitivetasks)iswhattheyresupposedtodo.Ifthatsthecase,goodluckwith
your11monthcareerbeforetheyhirethesameyounextyearwhoscheaper!

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers
Bothmyhomeworksandexam(s)requirethestudentstohaveunderstoodwhatIteachandthen
thinkbeyondthat.Itsnotthemostpopularapproach(everyyearIreceivefeedbackfromafew
students,viatheMITevaluationprocess,thattheywerenotspecificallytaughtwhattheywere
questionedon)butitswhatstructuralengineersdoinourprofessionallives.And,Iwouldsuggest,
itshowwealllearnandimproveinourdailylives

Whoasksthe
questionshere?
January22,2012
Uncategorized

Atthesametimeasteachingthiscourse,IwasalsoafrequentreviewerforanMITarchitecture
studio(byMeejinYoon)withmanyofthearchitecturestudentsfrommyclass.Atoneofmyjoint
architects+engineersclassIaskedacoupleofthearchitectstobringintheirprogressmodelsan
imagesandexplainwhattheyredoing.Itoldtheengineersthattheyshouldimaginetheyare
meetingthearchitectforthefirsttimeandthediscussionisonstructuralmaterials,form,and
behavior.

1Comment

Heresoneoftheprojectswediscussedinclass

Credit:ToshiroIhara
Honestly,thishappensquiteabitinmyworklife.Ifrequentlyreceiveemailswithimagesorrhino
modelsaskingamixofgeneralandspecificquestions.ThevalueItrytobringtothedesignisto
respondwithsomesenseandgeneraladvice.ItsmaybethehardestthingIdo
So,itwasnosurprisethattheengineeringstudentsstruggledgreatlywiththis.Theyessentially
askedmanystructuralandmaterialquestionsbacktothearchitectwho,inturn,wasalittlestunned
ashethoughthewouldgetthoseanswersfromtheengineeringstudents!
Overall,theengineersfeltuncomfortableprovidingfeedbackwhentherewasntaclearquestion.
Theywantedtoknowmaterialsandfloorspansbeforesayingwhetheritwouldworkornot.Whereas
thearchitectwantedtoknowwhathecouldorcouldntdo
Ididthisonpurposeaswedfinishedtheprimarycolorsofstructuresbutwehadntstartedonhow
toassemblethemintooverallforms.Ialsodidthisbecause,asIvementionedbeforepeoplewho
canthinkandmakejudgmentswillalwaysbeofvalue.Whereas,mechanical/simplifiedresponses
tobluntquestionswithonecorrectanswer(i.e.multiplechoiceformat)arelimitedandalmostuseless
tothecreativedesignprocess.
Moreonthisinmynextpost

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

FrameExample2
of2:SimmonsHall
January8,2012
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Thisisabriefposttohighlightwhatcanbeachievedwhenframebehaviorisunderstoodclearly.
Everybuildinghas,whatwecall,alateralsystem.Itresistsagainstlateralloadssuchaswindand
seismic.
Typicallyyoudontseethelateralstructuralsysteminafinishedbuilding.Somebuildings,however,
weartheirheartontheirsleevesotospeak.SimmonsHall,anundergraduatedormbuildingatMIT,
isoneofthose.
Thesquaresyouseeontheexteriorareessentiallymultiplereinforcedconcretemomentframes.
Madefromprecastconcretesegments,theywereliftedintoplaceandinterconnectedwithcouplers
totheprotrudingreinforcementbars.

Anarchitecturaldesire(StevenHollarchitects)wasfortheconcretetobethesamedimension
throughoutthebuilding.Hence,theyonlyvariableisthereinforcementinsideit.Reinforcementbars
areavailableinvariousdiametersandwereferencethiswithanumberthatequatestoamultipleof
1/8inchdiameter(fortypicalbarsizes).Henceanumber4baris1/2indiameter.Anengineerin
ouroffice,needinganeasyreferenceforthemultiplebarsizesthroughouttheproject,createda
colorchartofthemainbuildingelevation.
Whenthearchitectsawthisinameeting,itformedtheinspirationforthecladdingcolorscheme

FrameExample1
of2:Why
understanding
framebehavioris
important

Thispostgivesasmalldetailedexampleofframebehaviorandwhyitsimportanttounderstandit.
Thenextpostwillbeaboutframebehavioronalarger(buildingsize)scale.
Wewereaskedtoinvestigateasuddenbreakageofaglassinfillpanelinashoppingmall.
Interestinglyenough,ithappenedbetweenChristmasandNewYearbutquiteafewyearsago.

December26,2011
Uncategorized
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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

Thebreakageoccurredatnighttimewhilethemallwasshutandwasdiscoveredbythenightsecurity
guard(whotookphotos1and2shownabove).Themallplacedplywoodinthatareabeforeopening
andwas,ofcourse,concernedtoknowwhythishadhappened,andwhetheritwasaoneoffora
repeatableoccurrence.Aswewerepreparingtogotothemallwereviewedthephotosandnoted
theglassseemstohavefallendirectlybelow,ratherthaninoroutof,itsverticalplane.Wealsonoted
(photo2)thesupportingangleclipswererotatedattheirconnectiontotheverticals.Weasked
variousquestions:hadthisoccurredbefore?(no),canthefloorcleaningequipmentimpacttheglass
giventheglasshangsbeyondafloorlevelupstand?(no),didtheysuspectvandalism?(hopefully
not)etc.
Atthemallweobservedmanyoftheexistingangleclipswererotated(seephoto3).Rotationofthe
angleclipsisnotsurprisingasthereisonlyonebolttothevertical.

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

Photo3
Wecaneasilydrawthebehaviorofthesystemunderitsownselfweight.Seediagrambelow.The
pinnedsupportscanonlyprovideverticalsupport,sothebending(whichexistsbecausetheglassis
offsetlaterallyfromthesupports)occursatthecliptoglassconnectionandintheglassitself.Thisis
anoddmethodofsupport.Wenormallyhavefixedrotationatthemainsupport(theshoulderinmy
previousanalogy)notatthethingweresupporting.

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers

Tomanagethisfixedrotationpoint,theasbuiltcliptoglassconnectioncreatesapushpullbetween
itstopcontactedgeanditscentralbolt(seephoto3again).Unfortunately,theexistingplasticwasher
betweentheclipandglasswasnotthefullheightoftheclipsothetopedgeofthemetalclipwasin
directcontactwiththeglass.
Directmetaltoglasscontactisnotagoodthing.Itsevenworsewhenthatareaofglassisunder
bendingstress.
So,apoorchoiceoftheoverallstructuralsystem,combinedwithincorrectlocaldetailing,produced
overstressanddamagetotheglass,causingittoshatter.
Wereviewedvariousremedies(addingalaminate,switchingtheglassoutformetalmeshetc.)and,
onbalance,decidedthebestsolutionwastomakethebaseconnection(metalcliptovertical)fixed
forrotation.Weachievedthisbyweldingalongtheedgesoftheangleclips.Ofitself,thiswouldnt
magicallyremoveinbuiltstressesintheglass.So,eachglasspanelwasremovedandtheangle
clipswerecorrectlyaligned,beforeanyweldingtookplace.Theglasspanelswerethenreinstalled.
Itsbeeneightyearssincethatbreakageeventandnootherpanelshavebrokenorexhibitedsigns
ofdeterioration.

ClassonFrames
toarchitectsand
engineers
December11,2011

So,asthesecondpartoftwoonbendingmoments,Icoveredframesandtheirbehaviorunderloads.
Framesworkinbendingwhichisastructurallyinefficientwaytocarryload(seeshoulderanalogy
frommylastpost).But,themajorityofstructuresarenotthemoststructurallyefficient(andnor
shouldtheybe)aswehavegreaterissuestodealwithsuchasneedingflatfloors,verticalwalls,and

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers
openpassagebetweenthewalls.Hence,thedominanceofframesinourlives.
Overall,thisisthemosttechnicalofclassessobearwithmeaswegothroughsomeofthis
Myapproach,asbefore,istothinkaboutthedirectloadpathofanyappliedloadtothesupports.
Oncewehavethat,anydeviationproducesbending.Thegreaterthedistancefromstructureto
loadpath,thegreaterthebending.ThisiswhyIstartedthiswholecoursewithcables(andabiton
arches)asitstheclearestwaytothinkaboutstructuralbehavior.
Herearesomeexamplesfromsimpletoabittrickier.Iprovidesomeexplanationandfollowwith
diagrams.Thediagramshavebluefortheframeandload,redforthedirectloadpath,andgreenfor
thebendingmoment.
1)Soletstakethesimplestframe.Pinjointsatthebaseandapinjointinthemiddleofthebeam
withasingleload.Thedirectloadpathconsistsofstraightcompressionlinestothesupports(i.e.
whatacablewoulddoinreverse).Sothereisnobendingmomentatthepins(bydefinition)and
linearlyincreasingbendingmomentaswemovetotheframecorners.Thesearethecriticalbending
locations.Now,wedrawbendingmomentsperpendiculartothesteelmembersbuttheframecorner
istheframecorneri.e.ithasonebendingmoment.SoIliketodrawitcurvedaroundthecornerto
remindeveryone.

Notehowthecompressivethrustiscounteredbyareactionintheoppositedirection.i.e.thereisa
verticalandhorizontalcomponenttothereaction(justasthereisforahangingcable).
2)Now,ifwekeepeverythingthesamebuthavethebeamwithoutacentralpin,westillhave
straightcompressivelinesbuttheystarthigherupandcrossthroughthebeam.

Whatdoesthismean?Well,anumberofthings:
1. Firstitmeanstherearelocationsofzerobendingmomentinthebeam.Wesawthiswithfixed
endbeamsinthelastpost.
2. Moreimportantly,wecanimmediatelyseethehorizontalreactionatthebasesupportshas
beenreduced.Thethrustlineissteeperitslikehavingacablewithgreatersag.
3. Thisallresultsinlowerbendingmomentsatthecornerswhichwerethecriticallocations.And
thisisasitshouldbeforanoverallstructuralframethatisnowstifferthanbefore.

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UnderstandingStructures|Anapproachtoteachingqualitativeunderstandingofstructuralbehaviorforarchitectsandstructuralengineers
3)Laststepforabasicframewithcentralsingularload,ifwemakethebasesupportsfixed,then
ourthrustlinescrossboththebeamandthecolumns.Thistellsusagreatdealaboutthedeflected
shapeoftheframe.RememberhowIexplainedaboutsmileandfrownbendingmomentsand
theirrelationshiptocurvatureinthelastpost.Well,thisletsusimmediatelydrawthedeflectedshape
asshownbelow.

NoticehowIhaventdoneanyequationsorusednumbers.Thishasallbeenqualitativeworkbased
onfundamentallyunderstandinghowstructurescarryloads.Thiscanbeextendedtootherlocations
oftheloadormultipleloads.
Asalastexample,heresthesametypeofdiagramforalateralload.Noticehowourthrustlines
havebothtensionandcompression.

Classonbending
momentsto
architects
December11,2011
Uncategorized
1Comment

Overtwoclasses(thisandthenextone)Icoveredbendingmomentandframebehavior.Theseare
thetwohardestconceptstounderstandas,unlikewhatweveseensofar,thebehaviorisnot
immediatelyvisible.Appropriately,italsobringsustotheendoftheprimarycolorsofstructure.
Thesecompletethetypesofstructuralelementsthatexistinallstructures.
Whydowecareaboutbending?Simplybecausethatshowmostthingsbreak.
Itseasytogetlargestressesbybending.Ifyouwanttobreakapencil,youdontpullit,crushit,or
shearityousnapit.Youholditbetweenyourthumbsandindexfingers(whatwecall:3point
bending).Similarlywhenyouwanttobreaksomethinglargeryousnapitoveryourknee.Lever
actionisapowerfulthing.
Ididntgettocovermuchinthisclassbeyondbendingmomentdiagramsforbeams.Myemphasis
wasinunderstandingthebehaviorsoweknowwherecriticallocationsareforthebeams(which
typicallydrivesthestructuraldepthrequired).Ialwaysliketoreferbacktothecableanalogy.Cables
cantcarryanybending,justaxialload.Givenbendingiscausedbyanaxialloadatadistancefrom
thesupport(thinkaboutholdingaweightatarmslengthandhowmuchharderyourshoulderhasto
workthanifyourarmisbyyourside)theshapeofthebendingmomentonabeamisthesame
shapeacablewouldtakeforthesameload.
Hence,forasimplysupportedbeam(i.e.abeamjustproppedonendsupports)wegettheshapeof
cableswereusedto
(Beamsandloadsareinblue.Bendingmomentsareinred.Deflectedshapeinblack.)

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Now,ifwegrabholdoftheendsofthebeamanddontallowthemtorotate(whatwecallfixed
ends)thentheshapeofthebendingmomentdiagramstaysthesame,butitspositionisraisedsowe
havelessbendingmomentinthemiddleasthefixedendscannowhelp.

Noticethismeanstherearelocationswherethereiszerobendingmoment.Thatsgoodforusto
knowwhendesigningorevaluatinganexistingstructure(assumingthatstheonlyload).Butitalso
tellsussomethingabouttheshapeofthebeam.Thisisbecausebendingmomentisdirectlylinkedto
curvature.
Youwillappreciatethatcurvaturemeansitscurved(ofcourse)butabeamcanhavepositiveand
negativecurvature.Putvisually,itcanbecurvedlikeasmileorlikeafrown.Asimplysupported
beamisallsmile.Butafixedendbeamhasasmileinthemiddlewhichblendsintofrownsateither
end.So,atthatcrossover,theresamomentwhenthebeamisnotcurved.Itsinclinedbutnot
curved.
Wetalkedalotinclassaboutgradient,curvature,anddeflectedshapeandIfounditinterestingthat
manyofthearchitecturestudentswhoaretypicallycomfortabledoing3ddoublecurvedgeometryin
rhinodidnotknowaboutpositiveandnegativecurvature.However,moreimportantly,Ialsocovered
thefollowingpoints:
Whatarephysicalexamplesofapinnedsupport(i.e.justpropped)
Whydostructuralengineersdrawconceptualbeamswithonefixedendandonerollerend?
Whatarephysicalexamplesofafixedendsforbeams?
Howcanoverhangingcantileversacttooffsetbendingmomentatthemidspan?
Howdoesbendingmomentrelatetoplacementofreinforcementinconcretebeams?
OnequestionIfoundparticularlyfascinating:Whydowedrawbendingmomentdiagramsalways
goingbacktozeroattheend?Thefixedendofabeamhasabendingmomentbutwe(structural
engineers)tendtodrawaclosedverticalend.Ithinkthisisjustforneatnessreasonsbutmanyofthe
architecturestudentswereveryconfusedbythis.Ivealwaystaughtbendingmomentdiagramsin
framestoavoidthis(seenextpost)buthadntthoughtaboutitforjustbeams.Funnyhoweasyitisto
misrepresentsomething

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