What is Structural Analysis?

Structural analysis determines the responses of different materials and components of a structure under various types of loads, such as tension, compression, bending, and torsion, through mathematical and computational methods. In this regard, structural analysis is very essential so that buildings, bridges, and all sorts of structures can be safe and stable, possessing the strength to resist environmental shocks including wind, earthquakes, and heavy loads without experiencing failure.

The following are the key factors to consider in structural analysis:

• Calculation of loads: These are the forces acting upon a structure, mainly made up of dead loads or permanent weights, live loads or temporary or moving loads, and environmental loads such as wind and snow, etc.
• Stress and strain analysis: That is the study of deformation of the material of the structure under applied forces up to safe limits.
• Deflection and Stability: The displacement of structural elements may be checked so that the bend or shift does not exceed the acceptable limit.

That is, the performance a structure is intended to have can be determined and what weaknesses may exist well before construction. Engineers model the structure either through commercially available software programs or through hand calculations to simulate how the structure will respond to a wide range of loading scenarios, then apply various tools for analysis of the structure. Such analyses make possible optimized designs that avoid failure, reduce material costs, and promote greater safety.

Structural analysis is the nucleus constituent of the design and construction of almost all the infrastructure construction projects. The design is safe, meeting the building codes requirements, and cost-effective from the cost-performance analysis of the structure. Due to the advance in technology, further development of structural analysis is continuously achieved through more advanced models and computer simulations for better analyses of even more complex systems.

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