Structural engineering

Main page: Civil engineering

Structural engineering is a subset of civil engineering dealing with the design and analysis of buildings and large non-building structures to withstand both the gravity and wind loads as well as natural disasters. Besides, it may also cover design of machinery, medical equipment, vehicles or any other objects where structural functionality or safety are involved. Structural engineers must ensure their designs satisfy building codes.

Major structural engineering projects go through the following four stages: research, design, testing, and construction which are featured with the images below:

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Structural engineering came to existence when the humans first started to construct their own structures. It became a more defined profession with the emergence of the architecture profession during the industrial revolution in the late 19th Century.

Entry-level structural engineers may design individual structural elements of a structure, for example, beams, columns, and floors of a building. More experienced engineers would be responsible for the structural design and integrity of an entire system, such as a building.

Structural engineers often specialize in particular fields, such as bridge engineering, building engineering, pipeline engineering, earthquake engineering, industrial structures, or special mechanical structures such as vehicles or aircrafts.

Structural Engineering Media

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  The Eiffel Tower in Paris is a historical achievement of structural engineering.

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  Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC

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  Galileo Galilei published the book Two New Sciences in which he examined the failure of simple structures.

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  Isaac Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which contains his laws of motion.

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  Leonhard Euler developed the theory of buckling of columns.

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  Figure of a bolt in shear stress. Top figure illustrates single shear, bottom figure illustrates double shear.

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  Sydney Opera House, designed by Architect Jørn Utzon and structural design by Ove Arup & Partners

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  Millennium Dome in London, UK, by Richard Rogers and Buro Happold

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  Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, the world's tallest building, shown under construction in 2007 (since completed)

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  Earthquake-proof pyramid El Castillo, Chichen Itza

Related pages

• Architecture
• Building model