The Role of Structural Engineering in Modern Construction

Looking at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Statue of Liberty, and other architectural marvels may make you wonder, how they were built. Enters structural engineering, a subfield of civil engineering.

Civil engineering is more inclined towards design elements and construction. On the other hand, structural engineering emphasizes evaluating and inspecting the construction materials.

This engineering discipline integrates physics’ basic principles with material science to discover, develop, and utilize durable materials to build a robust structure.

In this article, let’s shed light on the types, elements, processes, software, and challenges pertaining to structural engineering.

Structural Design Process

Conceptual Design

An architect creates a structural design, and a structural design engineer analyzes it. Engineers take a look at the various spaces in a commercial, residential, or industrial building to create structural engineering design.

They also evaluate various site conditions such as soil reports, wind load, exposure category, and seismic load for steel and concrete structure designs. Engineers begin preliminary designs of architectural elements such as wall, roof, and floor plans.

They design slabs, footings, load-bearing walls, columns, and beams after detecting and coordinating clashes related to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing.

| Read More: Ideas to Structures: Conceptual Design and The Role of BIM

Structural Analysis

Structural engineers do the job of structural analysis on structural members. They include bending moment, normal, shear, torsion stress diagrams, responses, and deflections or deformations which may occur due to different load combinations in the structural analysis.

Professionals leverage BIM structure analysis software such as Tekla and Autodesk Revit for basic as well as advanced structural analysis.

Load Analysis

It is of utmost importance to analyze the potential live and dead loads of a building that it can experience over a lifetime. Hence, assess your building’s location and consider the varying loads it may have to deal with. Consulting the relevant structural design codes and references can help you discover the value of these codes.

Assessing the loads of design and drawing of steel structures assists in finding the worst load combinations for a structure. Autodesk Revit and Tekla software can help you generate all loads automatically.

System Design

Structural engineers focus on the system design using a top-down approach after completing the preliminary design of the structure. You should understand a structure’s load path considering the effects of gravity loads, lateral loads, and uplift on the various parts encompassed in the structure.

Engineers begin working on the initial designs of different structural systems after having a general concept of the load path of a structure.

Element Detailing

The specific design of structural components has accurate dimensions. In this process, the structural engineer conducts a detailed member analysis for specific spans, for example, to assess the weight that a roof has to bear.

Careful planning about the details of steel connections in advance can significantly reduce the costs of a constructing building.

Iterative Design and Drafting

A closed-loop cycle characterizes structural design performance. In this process, architects and engineers refine design after reflecting and collecting feedback from among themselves and other stakeholders.

In this phase, they also create elaborative construction drawings. These drawings work as the blueprint of a building’s structural frame.

Construction Administration

Structural engineers have the responsibility of supervising the construction process to ensure the design structure is being met. Physical site visitations also allow a structural engineer to track project progress and solve all the problems.

A construction administrator aims to preserve construction plans and specifications through inspection and construction management.

Elements of Structural Engineering

Roof

The roof is one of the essential components of a building structure. Engineers use this element to cover a building from the top. You can keep a roof flat or sloped after considering the location and local climate.

Parapet

In structural engineering, parapets are short walls built on the four edges of a roof. They are mostly used for flat roofs. Parapets provide safety to the people.

Lintels

You can find lintels above the wall openings such as windows, doors, etc. Lintels play a crucial role in supporting a wall’s weight that comes over the opening. Normally, robust cement concrete is used to construct lintels.

In the case of residential buildings, professionals use concrete or bricks to construct lintels.

Columns

Engineers build columns above the ground level. Structural columns and architectural columns are the two types of columns. Structural columns bear the load from the slab and transfer it to the foundation.

Beams and Slabs

Beams and slabs are a building’s horizontal members. In the case of a single-story building, the roof is formed by a top slab. On the other hand, in a multi-story building, a beam transfers the load, which comes from the floor above a slab.

As a result, it is transferred to columns. Reinforced cement concrete (R. C. C.) is ideal for constructing beams and slabs.

Walls

Walls support the roof and provide cover to a house from the sides. Professionals use concrete blocks, stones, bricks, etc. to build these vertical elements. Walls safeguard a building and its occupants from rain, wind, sunshine, etc. They have openings such as windows and doors to ensure access to the building and ventilation.

Floors

A floor is a surface on the plinth level in structural engineering. You can use various materials such as granites, marble, concrete, tiles, etc. A compact and leveled ground is essential to lay a floor.

Damp Proof Course (DPC)

DPC is a layer of waterproofing material that you can use to apply on the basement level. It prevents surface water from entering the walls. Professionals construct walls over the DPC.

Stairs

A stair is a sequence of steps that facilitates the connection between different floors in a building. A stairway refers to the area that a stair occupies. R. C. C. and wooden stairs are some of the types of stairs.

Foundation

A foundation is a structural unit used to uniformly distribute the load from the superstructure to the underlying soil. Professionals construct this structural unit first of all for any building.

Plinth Beam

A plinth beam is a beam structure either or above the ground level that bears the weight of a wall covering it.

Plinth

A plinth is a structure that is built above the ground level. It is a cement-mortar layer that lies between a superstructure and a substructure.

| Also Read: BIM Impacting Structural and Civil Engineering Operations

Structural Engineering Software

Revit

Autodesk’s Revit is a cutting-edge structural engineering software. This 3D modeling application offers customization for structural engineers. Civil engineers use this software to integrate structural analysis, parametric modeling, real-time BIM collaboration, and automation.

The library made available through this software facilitates cost estimation and material selection. Revit also offers interoperability with various other Autodesk applications for efficient management of workflow. It ensures convenience in data transfers and collaboration.

AutoCAD

AutoCAD’s popularity among structural engineers and architects is well-known. This software’s 2D and 3D drawing capabilities make it one of the best choices for AEC professionals. You can find a broad spectrum of drafting and design tools in AutoCAD that help in designing complex structures.

You can use this application to exchange data with other Autodesk software effortlessly, which ensures uninterrupted operations. AutoCAD can be used for diverse projects as it provides multiple customization options.

Tekla Structures

Tekla Structures is an innovative software that serves well for structural engineering. It is a go-to tool for structural engineers as it offers precision, accuracy, and effectiveness.

You can work efficiently on intricate 3D models and other projects which are constructed using concrete or steel. Designing, creating, analyzing, and modifying structures with accuracy is easy using Tekla Structures.

Civil 3D

Civil 3D is a top-notch BIM 3D modeling software. This application offers excellent features for creating, modifying, and optimizing designs. You can utilize this tool to create 3D virtual models of terrain, corridors, highways, and roads.

Pipe network design, automation of quantity take-offs and reports, and geospatial analysis are qualities that make it unique. Also, exchanging data and collaboration is convenient with this application.

BIM 360

BIM 360 is a high-quality BIM and project management software. It is a cloud-based tool that enables project stakeholders to access and manage virtual models. This application allows the team members to keep track of the latest updates and modifications in the drawings.

If you are looking to reduce errors in the design and save time, then BIM 360 is one of the finest solutions.

Conclusion

Structural engineering is a vital part of the civil engineering. Designing and building robust structures depends on structural engineering. The inclusion of leading-edge software is making this process easy.

Structural engineers have great future scope to build structures that are safe and environment-friendly. Mastering the above-mentioned software is crucial to becoming a skilled structural engineer in modern times. Upskill and keep building engineering marvels.

About TechnoStruct Academy

TechnoStruct Academy is the educational arm of TechnoStruct, LLC, a registered design engineering firm based in California. It offers specialized BIM training programs for architecture, MEP, and BIM Management.

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