Structural Engineering & Statics
where the load goes
Concept

Middle third — where it appears

2 essays name this object, across 2 fields. What follows is each of them, and the objects they name alongside it.
600 kN90 kN·mresultant at e = 150middle thirdbolt carries nothingPartial contactbearing over 300 mm at 10 N/mm² · 50% of 20

Where the structure meets the ground, and when the bolts start working

Push a base plate off its middle third and it lifts off the foundation. The holding-down bolts then carry exactly nothing, and go on carrying nothing until the plate has crushed the concrete underneath it.

connections · base plate the whole profile185.7 kN/mat 1.90 m0246surcharge20.0 kN/mat 3.00 msoil above water12.0 kN/mat 4.67 msoil at the water table48.0 kN/mat 2.00 m0246submerged soil27.2 kN/mat 1.33 mwater78.5 kN/mat 1.33 mresultant at 1.90 m, which is 0.317 of the height — one third only for a pure trianglethe water term is the largest single one, at 78.5 kN/m of 185.7 kN/m

The load that depends on what carries it

Every other load in this collection is a number the structure is given. Retained soil is not — it pushes with a fraction of its own weight, and the fraction is decided by how far the wall moves. Six millimetres of retreat on a six-metre wall takes a third off the load, and being held still puts it back.

equilibrium · lateral pressure

Named alongside it

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

Base plateBearingBearing pressureConnectionEccentricityFrictionHolding down boltLateral pressureLever armLower bound theoremNo tensionOverturning

All concepts