Structural Engineering & Statics
where the load goes
Generator

The funicular generator

Rendered here at the parameters it defaults to, with every essay that calls it — which is the same list as the blast radius of changing it.
The funicular polygon for five loadsThe shape a string takes under 5 point loads, with a vertex at every load and a constant horizontal component of 27.9 throughout. The end segments carry the most — 38.6 against 28.0 in the flattest one — because they are steepest.10148126H = 27.9, the same at every stationeach vertex is a load; each slope is the running vertical sum ÷ H

2 essays call funicular. The drawing above is what it returns with no arguments at all; every call below passes it something, because a placement that passes nothing draws whichever member of the family the generator happens to default to rather than the one its essay argues about.

Where it is called

Changing this generator changes every one of these figures.

10148126H = 27.9, the same at every stationeach vertex is a load; each slope is the running vertical sum ÷ H Structural form

The polygon that finds the shape

A hanging string under five loads has no smooth curve in it — it has five vertices and six straight segments, and every slope in it is a running sum divided by one number.

 thrust anywhere from 3.85 to 5.23 fitsH = 3.85, leastH = 5.23, most Structural form

The line that must stay inside

A masonry arch does not stand because its shape is right. It stands because some line of compression can be drawn inside the stonework — any one will do, and there are infinitely many to choose from.

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