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The notes are revised without notice and they are provided as is without warranty of any kind.
You are encouraged to submit comments, suggestions, and questions to terje@civil.ubc.ca.
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A
structure
has
many
characteristics,
many
of
which
are
properties
of
the
structural
members.
This
document,
however,
describes
some
global
characteristics
that
are
important
in
linear
static
structural
analysis.
The
characteristics
are
stability
and
degree
of
static
and
kinematic
indeterminacy.
Stability
Stability
implies
that
there
are
no
modes
of
deformation
with
zero
stiffness.
Such
modes
are
often
called
mechanisms
and
they
make
the
structure
unstable.
An
unstable
structure
will
collapse
even
without
load.
For
2D
structural
models
it
is
often
straightforward
to
see
that
a
structure
is
unstable.
Figure
1
shows
examples
of
unstable
structural
models.
The
two
hinges
at
the
top
of
the
frame
combined
with
the
pinned
supports
means
that
this
structure
will
collapse
sideways.
Even
one
hinge
would
be
sufficient
to
make
it
unstable.
The
truss
structure
in
Figure
1
is
also
unstable;
a
cross
brace
is
required
to
make
this
a
useful
structure.
Terje Haukaas University of British Columbia www.inrisk.ubc.ca
Frame Truss
Figure
1:
Unstable
frame
and
truss.
vertical,
and
angular
equilibrium.
For
a
joint
in
a
2D
structure
with
only
truss
members
entering,
i.e.,
member
without
bending
stiffness,
rotational
equilibrium
is
cancelled.
Table
1
summarizes
the
value
of
e
for
different
structures.
Table
1:
Forces
per
member
and
equations
per
joint.
f
e
2D
truss
1
2
2D
frame
3
3
3D
truss
1
3
3D
frame
6
6
The
number
of
restraints,
r,
is
obtained
by
counting
the
number
of
support
reactions.
Although
rather
trivial,
Figure
2
provides
an
overview
of
the
number
of
unknown
reaction
forces
for
different
kinds
of
2D
boundary.
The
arrows
in
the
figure
show
the
forces.
The
degrees
of
freedom
will
be
described
later.
Support type Unknown forces Degrees of freedom
$" %"
Pinned
Roller
%" $"
The
number
of
hinges,
h,
is
obtained
by
counting
the
number
of
hinges
and
releases
in
the
structure.
Each
hinge
represents
one
release,
i.e.,
the
specification
of
one
internal
force.
The
typical
example
is
to
replace
a
moment
connection
with
a
hinge
so
that
the
bending
moment
becomes
known
and
equal
to
zero.
The
determination
of
h
can
sometimes
seem
difficult,
especially
when
section
forces
other
than
bending
moments
are
released.
Examples
will
help.
For
frames
the
number
of
members,
m,
and
joints,
j,
in
a
structural
model
is
subjective.
However,
the
subjectivity
does
not
affect
the
final
DSI.
Usually,
joints
are
identified
wherever
there
is
a
boundary
condition
or
a
bend
or
intersection
in
the
structure.
If
for
some
reason
the
analyst
places
a
joint
in
the
middle
of
a
frame
member
then
this
increases
j
and
m
in
a
way
that
leaves
DSI
unchanged.
example,
a
fixed
node
has
zero
DOFs.
Figure
2
provides
an
overview
for
2D
structures
of
the
number
of
DOFs
per
node
for
different
boundary
conditions.
The
second
exception
to
the
rule
appears
when
axial
deformations
are
neglected
in
the
analysis
of
frame
structures.
This
is
quite
common
in
hand
calculations
with
the
classical
stiffness
method
because
the
axial
stiffness
of
frame
members
is
usually
significantly
higher
than
the
bending
stiffness.
Neglecting
axial
deformations
requires
careful
consideration
of
the
DOFs
at
each
node,
which
is
difficult
for
a
computer.
Hence,
in
computer
analysis
it
is
easier
to
always
account
for
axial
deformations.
By
hand,
one
simply
removes
the
DOFs
that
will
experience
zero
displacement
when
the
members
do
not
deform
axially.