Tony Hunt's Structures Notebook

Tony Hunt, Tony Hunt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781138138094
• eBook ISBN: 9781136354816
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

The purpose of the Structures Notebook is to explain, in the simplest possible terms, about the structure of 'things', and to demonstrate the fact that everything you see and touch, live in and use, living and man-made, has a structure which is acted upon by natural forces and reacts to these forces according to its form and material.The Structures Notebook was originally written by Tony Hunt as a brief teaching aid for students at the Royal College of Art who had very little, if any, knowledge of physics or structural behaviour. It has now been expanded, and with this second edition, updated, into a more comprehensive book while retaining a simple visual and non-mathematical approach to structures.The book is divided into seven main sections, in a logical sequence, and is written in simple language. Each section, related to its text, has a comprehensive set of hand-drawn sketches which show, as simply as possible, what the text is about. The book is almost totally non-mathematical since the author believes very strongly that structural behaviour can be understood best by diagrams and simple descriptions and that mathematics for the majority of people interested in design is a barrier. The design of structures is a combination of art and science and to achieve the best solution, concept should always come before calculation.

1

Introduction

This book is about the basic structure of things. Its aim is to develop an understanding of essential structural principles and behaviour by a descriptive and largely non-mathematical approach. It relates to the structure occurring in such diverse objects as a bridge, a box for packaging, furniture, buildings etc. and it covers all the common structural elements singly and in composite form.

This book is a primer on the subject. There are a large number of books on building structures, the most important or relevant of which are listed in Appendix III.

2

Structure and Structural Form

Structure

What Structure is

Structure is the load-carrying part of all natural and man-made forms. It is the part which enables them to stand under their own weight and under the worst conditions of externally applied force.

The Designer

In the context of structure, a designer is one who conceives a structural part or a structural system which functions satisfactorily, is integrated successfully within the overall design and is appropriate for its purpose in terms of material and form.

The Design Process

Without a brief it is not possible to design, since there are no rules and no constraints. Therefore, no matter how sketchy, it is the brief which sets the basic framework for the designer. It provides the lead-in for the first analysis of the problem which then develops into an iterative process, with ideas being tested, modified, rejected, until an appropriate solution to the problem is reached.

Optimum Design

A designer should generally aim for the optimum solution in order to obtain the maximum benefit with the minimum use of material within the constraints of strength, stiffness and stability. The result will be EFFICIENCY combined ideally with ELEGANCE AND ECONOMY.

Influences on the Designer

The major influences on creative structural design are:

Precedent	–	what’s gone on
Awareness	–	what’s going on
Practicality	–	how to do it

Structural Form

Structures take one of four basic forms which may exist singly or in combination.

Solid	An homogeneous mass structure where the external surface is independent of the internal form – a three-dimensional solid body
Surface	An homogeneous surface where the external and internal forms are similar – a two-dimensional panel
Skeletal	A framework where the assembly of members gives a clear indication of the form usually using one-dimensional elements
Membrane	A flexible sheet material sometimes reinforced with linear tension elements u...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface to the First Edition
• Preface to the Second Edition
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Structure and Structural Form
• 3. Structural Materials
• 4. Loads on Structure
• 5. Equilibrium
• 6. Structural Elements and Element Behaviour
• 7. Structural Types
• 8. Some Further Significant Structures and Assemblies
• Appendix I: Tensile Strength of some Common Materials
• Appendix II: Bending and Deflection Formulae for Beams
• Appendix III: Reading List