Distribution factor — where it appears
Named by 2 essays across 2 fields — each of them below, with the objects they name alongside it.
Also named here as fixed end moment — the same set of essays touches all of them, so they are one junction rather than several.
Solved by passing it around
An indeterminate structure needs simultaneous equations, and for thirty years engineers solved them without writing any down. Clamp every joint, release one, share out what is left over, pass half of it along, and repeat — and the answer walks in, three figures correct after four cycles.
The torsion that goes away if you let it
A spandrel beam attracts a torque in proportion to its own torsional stiffness. Crack it and the stiffness falls by a factor of four, the torque falls with it, and nothing has failed — because the floor beam it was competing with picks up exactly what was shed. A canopy hung off the same spandrel is a different animal entirely.
Named alongside it
The objects these essays reach for when they reach for this one.
Fixed end momentCarry overCompatibility torsionContinuityCracked sectionEquilibrium torsionIndeterminacyIterationJoint stiffnessLoad pathMoment distributionRedistribution