Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Engineering?
Civil engineering is considered the second-oldest engineering discipline, with military
deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physically and naturally
built environment, especially public sector works such as roads, bridges, dams,
highways, airports, pipelines, sewage and drainage systems, railways, ports and all the
rest.
harbors, levies and storm surge barriers that protect populated areas from flooding and
There are even geotechnical engineers that analyze the composition of soil to ensure the
In this blog post, we’re focusing in on one particular aspect of civil engineering:
structural engineering. Structural engineering deals with the design and structural
structures like oil rigs. Structural engineers may use some creativity to design a
structure with visual appeal, but they must also ensure that the structure is safe and
stable for its intended use. Keep reading to learn more about structural design in civil
engineering.
set of methods or tools that are used to determine safe and economical specifications
for a structure, and to ensure that a planned structure will be sufficiently strong to carry
its intended load. Structural engineers conduct a structural analysis to determine what
internal and external forces could affect the structure, then design a structure with the
structural engineering. While architects are normally tasked with designing the visually
Structural engineers combine the core principles of structural design with a sound
background in physics and materials science to ensure that structures are built to
withstand the loads and forces that they will encounter during their usage.
Civil engineers that design structure for construction projects must be excellent
problem solvers. The decisions that structural engineers make during the structural
design phase of the project will affect everything from the project cost and duration to
Below, we highlight some of the most important factors that structural engineers must
Structural engineers are primarily concerned with the safety and stability of structures
that they design. Structural analysis is the main tool that structural engineers use to
ensure that a structure can withstand the various types of forces that it will encounter
A civil engineering designing a subway platform should ensure that the platform will
designing a railway system should use materials that will not be damaged when a
A structural designer must ensure that the train station they are building won’t collapse
analysis:
Direction: The direction of the force. A strong wind would be acting against the side of
the building, while the weight of a heavy snowfall would act downwards, in the
Position: The position on which the force acts. Structural engineers must assess the
effects of anticipated forces on each area of the building, not just on the building as a
whole.
If you’ve ever tried to build a tower out of rocks at the beach, you may have
remain stationary to ensure their stability. The first step is ensuring through
geotechnical engineering that the soil beneath the building provides a solid foundation
for construction. A solid foundation helps ensure that the structure itself is immovable
For a structure to remain stationary, the sum of forces acting on it must always equal
zero. However, civil engineers know that external forces will be applied to the structure
throughout its operation. These can include live loads such as building occupants and
In any case, effective structural design requires civil engineers to ensure that a building
can absorb applications of external force, maintaining its own equilibrium. Just like a
tree branch that doesn’t bend will break in the wind, a structure that can’t absorb
structural design. The ability of a structure to withstand external and internal forces
and maintain its own state of equilibrium and stability depends on the properties of the
applications:
-Strength, a measure of how well a material can resist an applied stress or load. The
-Toughness, a measure of how much energy will cause a given material to crack. The
shape.
deformation occurs when a material is stretched beyond its capacity to return to its
normal shape. Metals exhibit plastic deformation as they crack, making them tougher
Imagine that you’re a structural designer creating a design for a skyscraper. How will
you decide what building materials to use? Because the building is tall and has a face
with a high surface area, you know that single greatest risk to your structure is likely to
be high winds. In addition, because the building is quite tall, it could be at risk of falling
over in an earthquake.
If you had a choice between a concrete construction and a steel construction, you’d
want to review the properties of both materials and determine how they would affect
the safety of your building. When you look up the specifications for a steel construction,
you realize that steel is more ductile – it can be plastic elongated by up to 15% before
fracturing, whereas concrete exhibits very little plasticity and fractures immediately
You conclude that a material that won’t fracture under stress is a better option, and you
conducted by a structural engineer whose role is to ensure the safety, stability and
performance of the structure. Civil engineers use structural analysis to assess the forces
that could act on a structure and to choose materials and reinforcements that will
Structural engineers design buildings, towers, tunnels, bridges and other types of
structures through the knowledge and successful application of physics principles and
material science.