STRUCTURAL DESIGN I

STRUCTURAL MECHANICS
STUDY OF FORCES
LECTURE 2
 COMPOSITION OF FORCES
• Forces can be acting on a number of planes in different
situations but here the study will be limited to ‘co-planer’
system of forces i.e. forces that are acting on only one
plane as that is what is normally required in calculations
required for structures of common buildings.
• Forces can be represented graphically. Force has a value
and a direction so, a line on a scale with an arrow can
represent a force.
• Forces can be:
– Parallel forces
– Concurrent forces
– Non concurrent forces
 Equilibrant

Resultant

Parallel Forces Resultant

Concurrent Forces

Non-concurrent Forces
 RESULTANTS
• It is necessary to find the resultant of a set of
forces so that an equilibrant can be applied to
balance these forces.
• Graphically, two concurrent forces can be
represented by the triangle of forces or
parallelogram of forces.
• If the two forces are drawn of length that
represents the value and in sequential direction,
then the closing line with a reversed direction will
represent the resultant.
 Triangle of forces
Reversing the equilibrant
would give the resultant

R E

P
P

Q Q
If P and Q are represented
P by two sides of a triangle in
There are two forces P dimension and direction then
and Q acting at the the line closing the triangle in
point O in the direction the same order would
O represent the equilibrant
shown in figure
Q
 Resolution of forces

Pv P

θ
O
Ph

The force P at the point O can be resolved in a horizontal (Ph)

and vertical (Pv) component.
 B
P
Pv
θ
A C
Ph

In the triangle ABC, force P can be represented by the side AB.

AC would then represent Ph and BC represent Pv.
Hence
Pv= P. Sin θ
And
Ph = P.Cos θ
 Positive +
Positive +

Negative -
Negative -

If all the concurrent forces are resolved in their vertical and

horizontal components and the arithmetic sum is found then
The resultant of all the forces can be found by the triangle of
forces
 F2v
F2
F1v

F2h
F1
F1h

F3h
O

F3
F3v F4h

F4v
F4

If there are forces F1,2,3 and 4 acting at a point then R at the point can
be calculated by:
R² = (F1v + F2v – F3v – F4v) ² + (F1h - F2h – F3h + F4h) ²
And the direction of R can be calculated by:
Tan θ = (F1v + F2v – F3v – F4v) / (F1h + F2h – F3h +F4h)
 Parallelogram of forces

If there are two forces acting at a point and these are represented by
the two sides of a parallologram then the diagonal of the parallologram will
represent the resultant of these two forces.
R² = y²+(Q+x)²
R² = y²+Q²+x²+2Q.x
P² = x²+y²
R² = P²+Q²+2Q.x
x = P. cosѲ
Ѳ
R² = P²+Q²+2Q. P. cosѲ α

tan α = y / Q+x
tan α = P.sin Ѳ/Q+ Pcos Ѳ
 Question: A peg, fixed in the ground has two ropes attached to it, both ropes being p
to the ground. The angle between the ropes is 60º. In one rope there is tension
(i.e. pull) of 70 kN and in the other a tension of 80 kN. Find the resultant pull on
the peg.

A B
CD = 70kN
80kN
R AC = 80kN
P CB = resultant
60º
α DE = 80.cos 60
peg BE = 80.sin 60
70kN C D E
Q

R² = P² +Q² + 2.P.Q.cos θ
= 6400 + 4900 + 2.80.70..5
=16900
R = 130
 600kN

425kN

400kN

30º 45º

45º
396kN
30º O

1030kN

There are 5 concurrent forces acting at the point O as shown in

the figure given above. Find the resultant of these forces.
 600kN
425kN
425Cos30 400Cos45

400kN
425Cos60
400Cos45
30º 45º

45º
396kN
30º
1030Cos30 O

1030kN

1030Cos60

R² = (ΣH) ² + (ΣV)²
ΣH = 396 + 400Cos45 – 425Cos60 – 1030Cos30
ΣV = 400Cos45 +600 + 425 Cos30 -1030 Cos60
The End