⬇️ Loads On Buildings
That You Have To Consider
Hi friends,
Today, I want to quickly summarize the loads that act on buildings and which you have to consider in your structural design.
If you want to read the full article, where I go into detail, then click here. 👇👇
→ The Types of Loads on Structures & Buildings (Practical Guide) ←
#1 Dead load/ self-weight
The dead load represents the self-weight of all structural and non-structural elements. You usually calculate the dead load with the density of the material, if the value isn’t given by the manufacturer.
In case you want to see a detailed calculation example of how to calculate the dead load of a floor, then check out our dead load guide.
#2 Live load
The live load accounts for people, furniture or equipment. So basically variable weights on floors that can change over time.
#3 Vertical wind load
The vertical wind load acts on roofs and compared to the other loads acts in most cases perpendicular to the surface of the roof and away. This is also called suction.
Here are 2 guides on how to calculate the wind load:
👉 Wind load calculation of a pitched roof
👉 Wind load calculation of a flat roof
#4 Horizontal wind load
The horizontal wind load is calculated to verify a building’s stability, which is
The horizontal deflection of the building due to the horizontal wind load is less than the criteria
The floor can transfer the loads to the stabilizing walls
The design of stabilizing walls
#5 Snow load
The snow load is the result of the weight of snow lying on a structure. It’s calculated with formulas given in Standards and Codes. The snow load depends heavily on the location of the building.
A cabin in the Austrian alps has a much higher snow load than a warehouse in Portugal at the beach.
#6 Earth pressure
The earth pressure needs to be calculated for all underground structures like basement walls, retaining walls, metro stations, tunnels, etc.
#7 Seismic load
The seismic load represents the force generated by earthquakes.
Here’s a good video explaining the seismic load.
#8 Imperfections
Imperfections result in additional loads. Let’s consider this:
A point load is applied to a column. However, the column isn’t completely straight, which happened during construction. But the column is instead a bit inclined. This inclination leads to an additional moment at the base support.
The additional moment is calculated as point load * lever arm.
#9 Accidental load
In some designs, accidental loads are considered in the structural design.
For example, in parking garages is an accidental load applied to columns, which represents a car driving against the column.
I hope that this quick overview helped understand structural loads better and gives a better understanding of what loads structural engineers include in their designs.
Have a great rest of the week!
Until next week. 🙋♂️🙋♂️
Laurin. 😎😎