| A | B |
|---|
| Allowable Strength | Nominal strength divided by the safety factor. |
| Allowable Strength Design | A method of designing structural elements such that the allowable strength is greater than or equal to the strength necessary to support the required load combinations. |
| Axial Force | A force that acts along the longitudinal axis of a structural member. Axial tension causes elongation of the member. Axial compression causes shortening of the member. |
| Beam | A structural member |
| Beam Analysis | The use of physical laws and mathematics to compute internal forces |
| Caisson | A long cylindrical reinforced concrete foundation element formed by drilling into firm soil and pouring concrete into the hole. |
| Column | An upright structural member acting primarily in compression. |
| Continuous Beam | A single beam that is supported by more than two supports such that it has at least two distinct spans. |
| Dead Load | The weight of the building or building components. |
| Deep Foundation | A foundation that transfers building loads into the earth well below the building structure. |
| Deflection | The distance a beam or structure deforms under loading |
| Deformation | A change in the shape of a structure or structural member caused by a load or force acting on the structure. |
| Design Load | The applied load determined by the required load combinations. |
| Equilibrium | The state of a body such that the sum of all the external forces acting on the body equals zero and the sum of all external moments acting on the body equals zero. |
| Fixed Support | A support condition in which translation of a structural member is restricted in two perpendicular directions and rotation is restricted. A fixed support provides two perpendicular reaction forces and a reaction moment when the member is loaded. |
| Footing | The lowest |
| Force | An agent that causes stress in an object. |
| Foundation | The lower part of a building |
| Free-body Diagram | A diagram used to isolate a body from its environment |
| Girder | A horizontal beam that supports other beams; a very large beam |
| Grade Beam | A reinforced concrete beam that transmits the load from a bearing wall into a spaced foundation such as pile caps or caissons. |
| Internal Force | A force that is internal to structural elements and is needed to determine the material stress and strain. |
| Kip | A unit of weight equal to 1000 pounds. |
| Lateral Load | A force acting generally in a horizontal direction |
| Live Load | The weight of movable objects such as people |
| Load | Forces or other actions that result from the weight of building materials |
| Load Path | A continuous system of structural elements that transfer an applied load to the supporting soil. |
| Mat (Raft) Foundation | A single concrete footing that is essentially equal in area to the area of ground covered by the supported structure. |
| Moment about a point P | The tendency of a force to rotate an object about point P. It is equal to the product of the magnitude of the force acting on the object and the perpendicular distance from the point P to the force. |
| Moment Arm | The perpendicular distance from a reference point to the line of action of the force. |
| Moment Diagram | plot of the internal moment in a beam versus position along the axis of the beam. |
| Nominal Strength | The load carrying capacity of a structural member. |
| Occupancy Category | A category used to determine structural requirements based on occupancy of the building. |
| Pile | A long slender piece of material driven or drilled into the ground to act as an element of a foundation. |
| Pin Support | A support condition in which translation of a structural member is restricted in two directions but rotation is not restricted. A pin support provides two perpendicular reaction forces when the member is loaded. |
| Roller (Rocker) Support | A support condition in which translation of a structural member is restricted in only one direction and rotation is not restricted. A roller support provides one reaction force when the member is loaded. |
| Safety Factor | A factor intended to compensate for uncertainties in design and analysis by reducing the theoretical strength of a member for use in design. |
| Seismic Load | A load on a structure caused by movement of the Earth relative to the structure during an earthquake. |
| Serviceability | The ability of a structure to maintain its appearance |
| Shallow Foundation | A foundation that transfers building loads into the Earth at the base of a column or bearing wall. |
| Shear Diagram | A plot of the shear force in a beam versus the position along the axis of the beam. |
| Shear Force | The internal force |
| Simple Beam | A beam that is supported on one end by a pin support and supported on the other end by a roller support. |
| Span | The distance between supports for a beam |
| Spread Footing | A wide shallow footing usually constructed of reinforced concrete. |
| Stability | A condition of a frame or structure in which a slight disturbance in the loads or geometry of the structure does not produce large displacements or failure. |
| Statically Determinate Beam | A beam which is supported such that the number of unknown reaction forces is equal to the number of equilibrium equations. |
| Statically Indeterminate Beam | A beam which is supported such that the number of unknown reaction forces is greater than the number of equilibrium equations. |
| Strain | Deformation under stress. |
| Stress | Force per unit area. |
| Structural Engineer | An engineer that is licensed to design the structural systems for a building. |
| Tributary Area | The area of floor or roof representing the surface area from which an applied uniform load is assumed to transfer to a supporting structural member. |
| Tributary Width | The width of floor or roof along the length of a beam |
| Truss | An assembly of structural members joined to form a rigid framework |
| Weight | The force exerted upon a body due to gravitational attraction to a planet. |
| Wind Load | Pressure from the wind that can cause lateral loads as well as uplift on the roof or downward pressure. |
| Yield Stress | The stress at which a material begins to deform plastically. |
