Hufancia, Dan Andrei 03.20.

2020
Strength of Materials F C204 5.30P – 8.00P

APPLICATION OF STRENGTH IN DESIGN

Strength of Materials, and Engineering Mechanics in general, impact machines and structures,
because the designer is accountable for safety and performance. Like many other fields, Architecture
is not only focused on aesthetics and concepts, but also practicality and safety. Architectural design in
our times is also thirsty for innovation and realization of otherworldly concepts. Looking back at the
organic concepts of Zaha Hadid, it comes to us that a severe attention to detail was put into the
structural supports of her projects.
Stress, as a concept, is the internal resistance to the distorting effects of an external force. A good
example would be a suspension bridge – these bridges are made of columns that extend upwards, and
have cables attached to them that support the road itself. The columns experience a compressive force,
and the cables experience a tensile force. A good way to think about stress is the higher the load, the
larger the stress, and the larger the area, the smaller the stress. Materials that undergo stress, however,
don’t just return to normal – which takes us to strain.
Strain is the deformation of material under stress before permanent distortion or breakage. Strain is
why there is a constant accounting for allowances within design, whether it be industrial, mechanical,
or architectural, and has three variants, all of which are based on what direction the object is
experiencing stress in. There is longitudinal strain, latitudinal strain, and shear strain. Longitudinal
strain occurs when a material experiences force along its length. Latitudinal strain occurs when a
material experiences force perpendicular to its length. Finally, shear strain occurs when a material
experiences force at angle and distorts it accordingly.
Poisson’s ratio is a consistent ration of latitudinal strain over longitudinal strain and is often used to
determine the total displacement and/or redistribution of material within an object. The Elastic Limit
is that which allows an object to deformed but still go back to its original size or stretch further than
normal. As such, each material that can be used for construction or manufacturing has an assigned
Young’s Modulus. However, when a material is pushed to its limits, it eventually yields and is
deformed permanently. If continued beyond this point, strain hardening occurs to the material, which
allows the crystals within the material to be distorted, effective toughening the material until it
reaches its ultimate strength, and after that, its breaking point.
Applying these concepts into considerations for architectural designs allows architects to make more
informed decisions about the materials that they want to use, because in the end, the user or client will
suffer from negligence on our part. A good example of this are the cracks that opened during the
frequent earthquakes within school. Another point is that people on the seventh floor could feel the
actual sway of the building.
A more optimistic take is that with all the advancements being made in construction materials, new
design opportunities will be available to contemporary architects. Skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa
will eventually be outdone by more futuristic projects like space elevators and docks, and the rising
need for more space as the human population skyrockets will have us wanting permanent scaffolding
that act as skeletal infrastructure that allows people to build lightweight homes on them.