What are the various types of structural loads?

Structural loads are actions or forces that cause a structure’s stresses, deformations, or movements. The forces can be caused by moving people, self-weight, or other natural forces like wind, heat, earthquakes, snow, etc.

Types of Structural Loads will be put into the following groups based on where the force comes from:

1. Dead Loads
2. Live Loads
3. Environmental Loads
4. Wind Loads
5. Snow loads
6. Earthquake Load
7. Thermal Loads
8. Settlement Loads
9. Special Loads

Dead Load

Dead Loads are static or permanent and relatively constant over the time of a structure.

This includes the self-weight of the structural components such as walls, beams, columns, roofs, and other immovable fixed parts of the structure, such as plasterboards, flooring materials, wooden frames, etc.

Dead Loads can be calculated by multiplying the unit weight of materials used and their volume.

For Example, Dead Load of 3 m3 Plain Cement Concrete = Unit weight of PCC X Volume = 24 kN / m3 X 3 m3 = 8 kN / m3

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Live Loads

Live loads are temporary, changeable, and moving loads on the floor. Live loads are loads that change over time and are sometimes different.

Here are some examples of live loads,

• Live loads for residential buildings are things like people and furniture.
• Live loads for bridges are cars and people.
• Live loads for school buildings are desks and people.

Minimum Floor Live Loads for residential building as per IS Code

Environmental Load

Environmental loads are caused by wind, snow, earthquakes, and temperatures too high or too low.

The following are some typical environmental loads:

• Wind Brings
• Load from an earthquake Snow load
• Temperature loads
• Settlement Loads

Wind Loads

When the wind blows, it puts pressure or stress on a building. This is called Wind Loads.

Why should you think about wind load? Because when the wind blows, it causes three loads that could make the building fall down.

A load that pushes the structure up is called an “uplift load.” It makes a strong force that lifts you, like a kite in the sky.

Shear load: When the building is pushed over the edge, it tilts, which cracks the walls.

Lateral load: When the building is pushed against its foundation and starts to slide away.

You don’t have to figure out wind loads for a small or low-rise building that is going up. But it should be thought about when the following things happen.

• A tall building
• Using light materials
• Using necessary design forms (especially in elevations)
• The fact that the hurricane happened in that area

Add more substructures or loads if the structure isn’t strong enough to handle the wind load. Most of the time, the historical data of the area are used to figure out wind load.

Snow Load

Snow loads are the vertical forces that snow puts on the roof when it snows. These loads are only considered in places where it snows, mainly in the northern or mountainous parts of the world.

Snow Loads are not caused by just one thing. During the winter, it happens all the time on the roof. Wind can quickly move snow on the roof, throwing off the balance of its weight and causing it to drift.

This uneven weight distribution on the roof puts a lot of stress on the structures.

Earthquake or Seismic Load

Earthquake load is the weight a building must carry because of an earthquake. Acceleration of the ground causes the building to move back and forth, which causes the structure to fall apart.

Earthquake loads are unique to the seismic zone in which they happen. The Bureau of Indian Standards has put out a map of India’s seismic risk. Each country has a set of earthquake zones.

Based on the history of earthquakes in each zone, BIS [IS-1893 (Part- 1): 2002] has divided India into four seismic zones. Zone V is where earthquakes happen the most, while Zone II is where they happen the least.

Bhuj, Darbhanga, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat, Kohima, Mandi, Sadiya, Srinagar, and Tezpur are all important cities in India that are in a zone with very high intensity. Structures in areas with many earthquakes need to be carefully studied and built to stand up to the Earthquake loads.

Special Loads

In addition to the five most common loads listed above, the following special loads must be taken into account if they could affect the serviceability and safety of the vehicle (2000).

The following are accidental loads caused by people: Explosion and fire, hits, and crashes.

Vibration Loads include moving machinery and heavy acceleration from cranes, hoists, and the like.

Foundation Movement / Settlement Loads occur when one part of the structure settles more than the other. It is essential to plan and study the soil conditions to prevent this.

Flood Loads: Floods around the foundation cause these loads. It makes the soil eroded, and the building loses its ability to hold weight.

Soil and Fluid Pressure occur due to high water flow on the soil. It changes the density of the ground over time, which causes lateral uplift force.