Structural Engineering & Statics
where the load goes
Concept

Distributed load — where it appears

A load spread along a length or over an area, replaced for equilibrium by a resultant at its centroid and by nothing for bending.

Named by 2 essays across one field — each of them below, with the objects they name alongside it.

resultant 24.0at x = 5.33, the centroid of the areamomentspread: 24.6replaced: 42.7reactions agree exactly (8.00 and 8.00); the peak moment does not

The load that is spread out, and the force that replaces it

A distributed load can be swapped for a single force at its centroid. The reactions come out identical and the bending moment does not, and knowing which side of the cut the swap is legitimate on is most of the skill.

equilibrium · distributed load 15.0 m²9.38 kN/m15.0 m²9.38 kN/m9.0 m²7.50 kN/m9.0 m²7.50 kN/m8 m6 m48.0 m² divided, 48.0 m² of panel — the division closes

The load a beam is given is a decision

Every beam calculation on this site so far has started with a load per metre, handed over as though it were a property of the beam. It is not. It is the answer to a prior question nobody draws, and two defensible answers to it differ by sixty per cent on the same floor.

equilibrium · tributary area

Named alongside it

The objects these essays reach for when they reach for this one.

Load pathSelf weightCentroidFree bodyFree body diagramIdealisationLoad descentOne way spanningResultantTributary areaTwo way spanning

All concepts