Lesson 1
Structural design is the methodical investigation of the strength, stiffness and stability of structures. The
basic objective in structural analysis and design is to produce a structure capable of resisting all applied
loads without failure during its intended life. The strength, stiffness and stability of material are three
crucial properties to understand in the evaluation of products. They play a major role in determining the
application of materials for different purposes. Some applications require products that need to be
strong, firm and resist bending.
Strength is one of the mechanical concerns in a successful design. Strength is a measure of the amount
of stress a material can withstand without breaking. This is the ability of the material to support
maximum load before it breaks or is permanently deformed. When a material is deformed, it changes in
shape in response to the force applied. Strength, therefore, refers to the ability of a material to
accommodate a force without breaking. It is a total measure of the capacity of the material to withstand
the load placed on it before reaching the point of permanent deformation. Engineers often associate a
value known as Yield Stress “σy” as strength. The various types and measures of strength to check when
evaluating materials include tensile strength, impact strength and compressive strength.
Stiffness is also one of the mechanical concerns in a successful design. Stiffness of material is the
measure of a material’s ability to return to its original form after being acted on by an external force. It
refers to the material’s ability to resist external forces and still return to its original form. These forces
include bending, stretching, and other forms of strain. It can also be referred to as the rigidity of a
material. This is its ability to resist deformation. Stiffness is closely related to elastic or flexible materials.
The more flexible a material is, the lesser the stiffness. In general, stiffness is the total measure of the
amount of deflection caused by the load on the material. Engineers often associate a value known as
Young Modulus “E” for Stiffness.
Stability is of utmost importance in the design of structures, actuators, bearings, and control systems. It
is the resistance offered by a structure to undesirable movement like sliding, collapsing and over turning
etc. Stability depends upon the supports conditions and arrangements of members and does not
depend upon loading. A structure is said to be stable if it can resist the applied load without moving or a
structure is said to be stable if it has sufficient number of reactions to resist the load without moving.
Lesson 2
1. Normal stress, shearing stress and bearing stress are all classified as Simple stresses. Normal
stress develops when a force is applied perpendicular to the cross-sectional area of the material.
If the force is going to pull the material, the stress is said to be tensile stress and compressive
stress develops when the material is being compressed by two opposing forces. The value of the
normal force for any prismatic section is simply the force divided by the cross sectional area. A
normal stress will occur when a member is placed in tension or compression. Examples of
members experiencing pure normal forces would include columns, collar ties, etc.
Shear stress is developed if the applied force is parallel to the resisting area.
