Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything on these pages. This is the very technical engineering theories and math behind a structure. Everything described here can be learned empirically (through experience).
There are 5 parts in this section:
- Definitions – basic definitions applicable to structure
- Stress – What are the stresses (forces) that are acting on your structure?
- Columns and the Law of Squares – the math of columns.
- Bracing – different types of braces and their application
What do you really need to know off of these pages?
- Most structures have vertical pieces designed to support weight (columns/legs) and less than vertical pieces (braces) designed to resist forces acting on the columns and to add stability to the structure.
- A shorter column holds more weight than a longer column of equal size, shape and material. The caveat is there is a limit to the strength of the material and eventually length does not matter.
- Braces can help resist twisting and leaning in a structure. Bracing in general serves two purposes: to keep a structure from falling over and to reduce ease of buckling in the columns.