Sheer is similar to tensile stress/strain, except that material can have different sheer properties in different directions. The beam is important because it takes lateral force and avoids a roof exerting force outwards to the walls, which would make it unstable. Stability can be predicted by examining the “thrust line”. Structures rely more on stability than strength, and you can model it using scaled-down versions because the cube-square law doesn’t apply. Below this length, the material stretches such that it takes energy to increase the crack. Critical Griffith crack length: maximum length above which a crack becomes self-propagating and dangerous.Mild steel is better for large structures high-tensile steel is better for small components.

For metals, often inverse correlation between work of fracture and tensile strength (maximum force it can withstand). Work of fracture is the amount of energy needed to break it. Ductile material is able to stretch without breaking brittle material is not.Young’s modulus for a material is stress/strain and is a measure of elasticity. The stress-strain diagram shows the relationship between them. Stress is the amount of force applied to a material strain is how much it is stretched.However, the writing is a bit rambly, and often I don’t know what point the author is trying to make with the examples I’d prefer if the author stays to the point. This is one of Elon Musk’s favorite books, and I learned a lot from it. It uses mostly intuition and only a bit of math, and interleaves a lot of stories giving examples of structures like bridges, planes, churches, animals, clothing, etc. Find a library where document is available.Published over 40 years ago in 1978, this book gives a basic overview of material science and structural engineering.The philosophy of design, structural failures, efficiency and aesthetics, are discussed in the fourth and final part. Part three is devoted to compression and bending structures and deals with walls, arches, dams, bridges, beams, compression, shear and torsion. Part two discusses tension structures and pressure vessels joints, fastenings and people soft materials and living structures. Part one of this book contains chapters on why structures carry loads the invention of stress and strain designing for safety and strain energy and modern fracture mechanics.

STRUCTURES - OR WHY THINGS DON'T FALL DOWN

Structures or why things don t fall