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StructuralloadWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Structuralload
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Structuralloadsoractionsareforces,deformations,oraccelerationsappliedtoastructureorits
components.[1][2]
Loadscausestresses,deformations,anddisplacementsinstructures.Assessmentoftheireffectsis
carriedoutbythemethodsofstructuralanalysis.Excessloadoroverloadingmaycausestructural
failure,andhencesuchpossibilityshouldbeeitherconsideredinthedesignorstrictlycontrolled.
Mechanicalstructures,suchasaircraft,satellites,rockets,spacestations,shipsandsubmarines,have
theirownparticularstructuralloadsandactions.[3]
Engineersoftenevaluatestructuralloadsbaseduponpublishedregulations,contracts,orspecifications.
Acceptedtechnicalstandardsareusedforacceptancetestingandinspection.

Contents
1Typesofloads
2Loadsonarchitecturalandcivilengineeringstructures
2.1Deadload
2.2Imposedloads
2.3Environmentalloads
2.4Otherloads
2.5Loadcombinations
3Aircraftstructuralloads
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks

Typesofloads
Deadloadsarestaticforcesthatarerelativelyconstantforanextendedtime.Theycanbeintensionor
compression.Thetermcanrefertoalaboratorytestmethodortothenormalusageofamaterialor
structure.
Liveloadsareusuallyunstableormovingloads.Thesedynamicloadsmayinvolveconsiderationssuch
asimpact,momentum,vibration,sloshdynamicsoffluids,etc.
Animpactloadisonewhosetimeofapplicationonamaterialislessthanonethirdofthenaturalperiod
ofvibrationofthatmaterial.
Cyclicloadsonastructurecanleadtofatiguedamage,cumulativedamage,orfailure.Theseloadscan
berepeatedloadingsonastructureorcanbeduetovibration.
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Loadsonarchitecturalandcivilengineeringstructures
Buildingcodesrequirethatstructuresbedesignedandbuilttosafelyresistallactionsthattheyarelikely
tofaceduringtheirservicelife,whileremainingfitforuse.[4]Minimumloadsoractionsarespecifiedin
thesebuildingcodesfortypesofstructures,geographiclocations,usageandmaterialsofconstruction.[5]
Structuralloadsaresplitintocategoriesbytheiroriginatingcause.Intermsoftheactualloadona
structure,thereisnodifferencebetweendeadorliveloading,butthesplitoccursforuseinsafety
calculationsoreaseofanalysisoncomplexmodels.
Tomeettherequirementthatdesignstrengthbehigherthanmaximumloads,buildingcodesprescribe
that,forstructuraldesign,loadsareincreasedbyloadfactors.Theseloadfactorsare,roughly,aratioof
thetheoreticaldesignstrengthtothemaximumloadexpectedinservice.Theyaredevelopedtohelp
achievethedesiredlevelofreliabilityofastructure[6]basedonprobabilisticstudiesthattakeinto
accounttheload'soriginatingcause,recurrence,distribution,andstaticordynamicnature.[7]

Deadload
Thedeadloadincludesloadsthatarerelativelyconstantovertime,
includingtheweightofthestructureitself,andimmovablefixtures
suchaswalls,plasterboardorcarpet.Theroofisalsoadeadload.
Deadloadsarealsoknownaspermanentorstaticloads.[8][9][10]

Imposedloads
Liveloads,orimposedloads,aretemporary,ofshortduration,ora
movingload.Thesedynamicloadsmayinvolveconsiderationssuch
asimpact,momentum,vibration,sloshdynamicsoffluidsand
materialfatigue.

Deadload

Liveloads,sometimesalsoreferredtoasprobabilisticloads,includeallthe
forcesthatarevariablewithintheobject'snormaloperationcyclenot
includingconstructionorenvironmentalloads.
Roofandfloorliveloadsareproducedduringmaintenancebyworkers,
equipmentandmaterials,andduringthelifeofthestructurebymovable
objects,suchasplantersandpeople.
Bridgeliveloadsareproducedbyvehiclestravelingoverthedeckofthe
bridge.

Imposedload(liveload)

Environmentalloads
Theseareloadsthatactasaresultofweather,topographyandother
naturalphenomena.
Windloads
Snow,rainandiceloads
Seismicloads

Livesnowload

Temperaturechangesleadingtothermalexpansioncausethermal
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loads
Pondingloads
Frostheaving
Lateralpressureofsoil,groundwaterorbulkmaterials
Loadsfromfluidsorfloods
Permafrostmelting
Dustloads

Otherloads
Engineersmustalsobeawareofotheractionsthatmayaffectastructure,suchas:
Foundationsettlementordisplacement
Fire
Corrosion
Explosion
Creeporshrinkage
Impactfromvehiclesormachineryvibration
Constructionloads

Loadcombinations
Aloadcombinationresultswhenmorethanoneloadtypeactsonthestructure.Buildingcodesusually
specifyavarietyofloadcombinationstogetherwithloadfactors(weightings)foreachloadtypeinorder
toensurethesafetyofthestructureunderdifferentmaximumexpectedloadingscenarios.Forexample,
indesigningastaircase,adeadloadfactormaybe1.2timestheweightofthestructure,andaliveload
factormaybe1.6timesthemaximumexpectedliveload.Thesetwo"factoredloads"arecombined
(added)todeterminethe"requiredstrength"ofthestaircase.
Thereasonforthedisparitybetweenfactorsfordeadloadandliveload,andthusthereasontheloadsare
initiallycategorizedasdeadorliveisbecausewhileitisnotunreasonabletoexpectalargenumberof
peopleascendingthestaircaseatonce,itislesslikelythatthestructurewillexperiencemuchchangein
itspermanentload.

Aircraftstructuralloads
Foraircraft,loadingisdividedintotwomajorcategories:limitloadsandultimateloads.Limitloadsare
oftenjustflightloadsandarefurtherdividedintomaneuveringloadsandgustloads.Ultimateloadsare
crashloads.Maneuveringloadsaredeterminedbasedontheperformancelimitsoftheaircraftwhether
imposedbytheflightmanualorbytheactualaerodynamicperformanceofaircraft.Gustloadsare
determinedstatisticallyaretakenfromguidelinesorrequirementsgivenbytheapplicableregulatory
agency.Crashloadsarelooselyboundedbytheabilityofhumanstosurviveextremeaccelerationsand
arealsotypicallytakenfromregulations.
Otherloadsthatmaybecriticalarepressureloads(forpressurized,highaltitudeaircraft)andground
loads.Loadsonthegroundcanbefromadversebrakingormaneuveringduringtaxi.
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