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This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to structural engineering. For a broad overview of engineering, please see List of engineering topics. For biographies please see List of engineers.
A-frame – Aerodynamics – Aeroelasticity – Air-supported structure – Airframe – Aluminium – Analytical method – Angular frequency – Angular speed – Architecture – Architectural engineering – Arch – Arch bridge
Base isolation – Beam – Beam axle – Bending – Bifurcation theory – Biomechanics – Boat Building – Body-on-frame – Box girder bridge – Box truss – Bridge engineering – Buckling – Building – Building construction – Building engineering
Cable – Cable-stayed bridge – Cantilever – Cantilever bridge – Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer – Casing – Casting – Catastrophic failure – Center of mass – Chaos theory – Chassis – Chimneys – Coachwork – Coefficient of thermal expansion – Coil spring – Columns – Composite material – Composite structure – Compression – Compressive stress – Concrete – Concrete cover – Construction – Construction engineering – Construction management – Continuum mechanics – Corrosion – Crane – Creep – Crumple zone – Curvature
Dam – Damper – Damping ratio – Dead and live loads – Deflection – Deformation – Direct stiffness method – Dome – Double wishbone suspension – Duhamel's integral – Dynamical system – Dynamics
Earthquake-- Earthquake engineering – Earthquake engineering research – Earthquake engineering structures – Earthquake loss – Earthquake performance evaluation – Earthquake simulation – Elasticity theory – Elasticity – Energy principles in structural mechanics – Engineering mechanics – Euler method – Euler–Bernoulli beam equation
Falsework – Fatigue – Fibre reinforced plastic – Finite element analysis – Finite element method – Finite element method in structural mechanics – Fire safety – Fire protection – Fire protection engineering – First moment of area – Flexibility method – Floating raft system – Floor – Fluid mechanics – Footbridges – Force – Formwork – Foundation engineering – Fracture – Fracture mechanics – Frame – Frequency – Fuselage
Hoist – Hollow structural section – Hooke's law – Hull – Hurricane-proof building – Hyperboloid structure
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Lattice tower – Lever – Leaf spring – Limit state design – Linear elasticity – Linear system – Linkage – Live axle – Load – Load factor
MacPherson strut – Masonry – Mast – Material science – Modulus of elasticity – Mohr-Coulomb theory – Monocoque – Moment – Moment distribution – Moment of inertia – Mortar – Moulding
Newton method – Newtonian mechanics – Non-linear system – Numerical analysis - Non-persistent joint
Permissible stress design – Pile – Plastic analysis – Plastic bending – plasticity – Poisson's ratio – Portland cement – Portal frame – Precast concrete – Prestressed concrete – Pressure vessel
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Radius of gyration – Ready-mix concrete – Rebar – Reinforced concrete – Response spectrum – Retaining wall – Rigid frame – Rotation
Second moment of area – Seismic analysis – Seismic loading – Seismic performance – Seismic retrofit – Seismic risk – Shear – Shear flow – Shear modulus – Shear strain – Shear strength – Shear stress – Shear wall – Shipbuilding – Ship Construction – Shock absorbers – Shotcrete – Shrinkage – Simple machine – Skyscraper – Slab – Solid mechanics – Space frame – Statics – Statically determinate – Statically indeterminate – Statistical method – Steel – Stiffness – Strand jack – Strength of materials – Stress analysis – Stress-strain curve – Strut – Strut bar – Structural analysis – Structural design – Structural dynamics – Structural failure – Structural health monitoring – Structural load – Structural mechanics – Structural steel – Structural system – Subframe – Superleggera – Suspension (disambiguation page) – Suspension bridge
Tall building – Tensile architecture – Tensile strength – Tensile stress – Tensile structure – Tension – Timber – Timber framing – Thermal conductivity – Thermal shock – Thermodynamics – Thermoplastic – Truss – Truss bridge – Torsion – Torsion beam suspension – Torsion box – Tower – Tubular bridge – Tuned mass damper
Vehicle dynamics – Vessel – Very large floating structures – Vibration – Vibration control – Virtual work
Wall – Wear – Wedge – Welding – Wheel and axle
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Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and calculate the stability, strength, rigidity and earthquake-susceptibility of built structures for buildings and nonbuilding structures. The structural designs are integrated with those of other designers such as architects and building services engineer and often supervise the construction of projects by contractors on site. They can also be involved in the design of machinery, medical equipment, and vehicles where structural integrity affects functioning and safety. See glossary of structural engineering.
In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity that expresses the internal forces that neighbouring particles of a continuous material exert on each other, while strain is the measure of the deformation of the material. For example, when a solid vertical bar is supporting an overhead weight, each particle in the bar pushes on the particles immediately below it. When a liquid is in a closed container under pressure, each particle gets pushed against by all the surrounding particles. The container walls and the pressure-inducing surface push against them in (Newtonian) reaction. These macroscopic forces are actually the net result of a very large number of intermolecular forces and collisions between the particles in those molecules. Stress is frequently represented by a lowercase Greek letter sigma (σ).
The field of strength of materials, also called mechanics of materials, typically refers to various methods of calculating the stresses and strains in structural members, such as beams, columns, and shafts. The methods employed to predict the response of a structure under loading and its susceptibility to various failure modes takes into account the properties of the materials such as its yield strength, ultimate strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio. In addition, the mechanical element's macroscopic properties such as its length, width, thickness, boundary constraints and abrupt changes in geometry such as holes are considered.
Structural analysis is a branch of Solid Mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. It's main objective is to determine the effect of loads on the physical structures and their components. In contrast to theory of elasticity, the models used in structure analysis are often differential equations in one spatial variable. Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, aircraft and ships. Structural analysis uses ideas from applied mechanics, materials science and applied mathematics to compute a structure's deformations, internal forces, stresses, support reactions, velocity, accelerations, and stability. The results of the analysis are used to verify a structure's fitness for use, often precluding physical tests. Structural analysis is thus a key part of the engineering design of structures.
A truss is an assembly of members such as beams, connected by nodes, that creates a rigid structure.
Solid mechanics, also known as mechanics of solids, is the branch of continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of solid materials, especially their motion and deformation under the action of forces, temperature changes, phase changes, and other external or internal agents.
Stress–strain analysis is an engineering discipline that uses many methods to determine the stresses and strains in materials and structures subjected to forces. In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity that expresses the internal forces that neighboring particles of a continuous material exert on each other, while strain is the measure of the deformation of the material.
A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis. Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending. The loads applied to the beam result in reaction forces at the beam's support points. The total effect of all the forces acting on the beam is to produce shear forces and bending moments within the beams, that in turn induce internal stresses, strains and deflections of the beam. Beams are characterized by their manner of support, profile, equilibrium conditions, length, and their material.
Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers, the need of seismic retrofitting is well acknowledged. Prior to the introduction of modern seismic codes in the late 1960s for developed countries and late 1970s for many other parts of the world, many structures were designed without adequate detailing and reinforcement for seismic protection. In view of the imminent problem, various research work has been carried out. State-of-the-art technical guidelines for seismic assessment, retrofit and rehabilitation have been published around the world – such as the ASCE-SEI 41 and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE)'s guidelines. These codes must be regularly updated; the 1994 Northridge earthquake brought to light the brittleness of welded steel frames, for example.
In structural engineering, a shear wall is a vertical element of a system that is designed to resist in-plane lateral forces, typically wind and seismic loads. In many jurisdictions, the International Building Code and International Residential Code govern the design of shear walls.
Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earthquake engineer aims to construct structures that will not be damaged in minor shaking and will avoid serious damage or collapse in a major earthquake. Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with protecting society, the natural environment, and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels. Traditionally, it has been narrowly defined as the study of the behavior of structures and geo-structures subject to seismic loading; it is considered as a subset of structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, etc. However, the tremendous costs experienced in recent earthquakes have led to an expansion of its scope to encompass disciplines from the wider field of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and from the social sciences, especially sociology, political science, economics, and finance.
This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to mechanical engineering. For a broad overview of engineering, please see List of engineering topics. For biographies please see List of engineers.
The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to the load-resisting sub-system of a building or object. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected elements or members.
Structural mechanics or Mechanics of structures is the computation of deformations, deflections, and internal forces or stresses within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. It is one subset of structural analysis. Structural mechanics analysis needs input data such as structural loads, the structure's geometric representation and support conditions, and the materials' properties. Output quantities may include support reactions, stresses and displacements. Advanced structural mechanics may include the effects of stability and non-linear behaviors.
This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM). For a broad overview of engineering, please see Engineering. For biographies please see List of engineers and Mechanicians.
This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to civil engineering. For a broad overview of engineering, please see List of engineering topics. For biographies please see List of civil engineers.
A steel plate shear wall (SPSW) consists of steel infill plates bounded by boundary elements.
The history of structural engineering dates back to at least 2700 BC when the step pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser was built by Imhotep, the first architect in history known by name. Pyramids were the most common major structures built by ancient civilizations because it is a structural form which is inherently stable and can be almost infinitely scaled.
Structural engineering depends upon a detailed knowledge of loads, physics and materials to understand and predict how structures support and resist self-weight and imposed loads. To apply the knowledge successfully structural engineers will need a detailed knowledge of mathematics and of relevant empirical and theoretical design codes. They will also need to know about the corrosion resistance of the materials and structures, especially when those structures are exposed to the external environment.
This glossary of structural engineering terms pertains specifically to structural engineering and its sub-disciplines. Please see glossary of engineering for a broad overview of the major concepts of engineering.