Glossary

GLOSSARY ALLOY

A material comprised of two or more metals, these are mixed to form an ‘alloy’ which combines different characteristics from each metal.

AXIAL LOAD A force, either compression or tension, acting along the length of a member.

BEARER A bearer or a beam is a structural element capable of supporting load. They are placed horizontally with the load often applied to their upper side.

BENDING Changing an objects shape from being straight to being curved or angular.

BRACE – (Ching, 2014)

COMPRESSION – (UoM, 2014)

Braces are used to support a building and the loads acting upon it by transforming lateral load to the foundations of the building.

An external force pushes inwards, the particles of the material compact together and it becomes shorter.

BUCKLING When an element such as a long column fails it will bend, warp or twist. This failure can occur due to heat or pressure and is known as buckling.

CANTEILEVER A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support.

COMPOSITE BEAM A steel beam connected to concrete

CONCRETE PLANK A hollow core precast slab of prestressed concrete typically used in the construction of floors.

GLOSSARY

COLUMN – (Newton, 2014) A rigid, solid, vertical support, usually some form of decorative pillar.

CORNICE Any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element.

DEFLECTION The movement of a structural member or building when subject to load.

DOOR FURNITURE Door furniture includes all objects designed to be attached to doors for example; locks, handles, knockers etc.

DOWNPIPE A pipe that carries water from the roof gutter down to the ground or a drain.

EAVE

GUTTER A channel that runs along the top edge of a roof, used for the collection and control of rainwater.

INSULATION

Eaves are the bottom edges of a roof. An eave normally projects beyond the side of the building, forming an overhang to throw water clear of the walls.

A lining used in floors, ceilings and walls. Its primary function is to reduce the transfer of a specific element such as temperature or sound from one space to another.

FLASHING

JOIST

Used to protect openings and joints from water, flashing is generally a metal strip that sits above such joints and controls water runoff.

Small parallel beams, these are horizontal member that can support floors or roofs.

FRAME – (Newton, 2014. Ching, 2014) A structural system based of vertical members joined together from which cladding and other structural members are attached.

GIRDER A main horizontal support that supports smaller members such as joists or purlins.

LINTEL A horizontal member that carries load across to vertical loadbearing members. This is useful to prevent load from being placed on elements below it such as windows or doors which would be damaged if such a load was applied.

GLOSSARY

LOAD PATH – (Newton, 2014) Loads are represented as arrows, with direction and scale. To look at how the load reaches the ground follows the arrows in the direction of the load. Load takes the most direct route down to the ground. Once the load reaches the ground it is met with an equal and opposite load which provides the reaction needed to support the load.

MOMENT – (Ching, 2014)

PORTAL FRAME

Moment is the tendency of a force to produce a rotation of a body around a point. This is calculated as the product of the force and the perpendicular length (moment arm) to the point of rotation.

A structure based on columns and either straight or pitched rafters. These are connected through moment resisting joints.

MOMENT INERTIA

A horizontal and longitudinal member in a roof frame.

The loadbearing capacity of an element proportional to its cross-sectional area.

PAD FOOTING – (Ching, 2014) Also known as isolated footing is a form of spread footing that has a lateral pad at the bottom of a column or pier. This pad expands the surface area by which the load can be discharged into the foundations.

PARAPET MASONRY – (Newton, 2014) Masonry is both the stonework and the process of building structures by laying individual units and binding them with mortar.

Any low protective barrier at the edge of a balcony, bridge or roof.

PURLIN

RAFTER A slanted structural member that extends frim the ridge of a wall. Its purpose is to support roof decking.

REACTION FORCE – (Newton, 2014) Newton’s 3rd law, this is the force acting in the opposite direction to an action force.

GLOSSARY

RETAINING WALL – (Ching, 2014) Used when a change in elevation exceeds the angle of repose of the soil. A wall is constructed usually with foundations and footing or resists the lateral pressure of the soil by sheer mass.

SANDWWICH PANNEL A composite panel comprised of two exterior sheets with a centre of a different material.

SEALANT A substance used for sealing gaps where there is the possibility f water entering a structure.

Sealants are often quite flexible elastomers.

SEASONED TIMBER Stronger and more laterally stable timber that only has 15% or less water in the remaining wood.

SHADOWLINE JOINT

STEEL, GALVANIZED – (Ching, 2014)

Rather than a junction between two sections a small gap can be left between the elements.

This creates a ‘shadow-line’ and is effectively a simpler way of finishing a joint.

The process by which steel is coated in zinc creates a layer that is resistant to weathering and oxidisation.

SHEAR FORCE

STAINLESS STEEL – (Ching, 2014)

A force acting perpendicular to an element e.g wind on a wall.

Steel with a large ratio of chromium (minimum 12%). This makes the steel highly resistant to corrosion.

SKIRTING Skirting board is used to cover the join between the floor and the wall. It also simultaneously stops dust gathering in said joint and protects the base of the wall from scuff marks.

SOFFIT The underside of a structural feature.

SPAN – (UoM, 2014) The distance between two points, also used to indicate that space of a bridge between supports.

STRESS The physical pressure or tension action from one element onto another.

STRIP FOOTING - (Ching, 2014. Newton, 2014) Continuous footing acts as the foundation for exterior and interior load bearing walls and will often mirror their layout. This is often reinforced with steel.

GLOSSARY

STRUCTURAL JOINT– (Newton, 2014) The junction of two or more member of a framed structure. Types of structural joints include roller joints, pin joints and fixed joints.

STUD Vertical support members comprising a wall or a partition.

SUBSTRUCTURE – (Ching, 2014) The foundation of a building and the lowest division. Either partially or completely underground, its primary function is to support and anchor the superstructure.

TENSION – (UoM, 2014) Pulling from an external load resulting in either the object pulling apart or tension.

Tension results in elongation which is dependent of the stiffness of the material, cross sectional area and magnitude of the load.

TOP CHORD A member that establishes the upper edge of a truss.

VAPOUR BARRIER A vapour barrier is a plastic or foil sheet that resists damp and the diffusion of moisture.

WINDOW SASH The frame holding the pane of glass I a window.

GLOSSARY LOADS – (Ching, 2014) POINT LOAD

A concentrated load applied on a localised, specific point of a structure.

DISTRIBUTED LOAD A force applied over an area, this is the opposite of a point load.

STATIC LOADS Loads applied slowly, deformation reaches its peak when the static force is maximum.

DYNAMIC LOADS Loads applied suddenly, deformation does not always correspond with the maximum magnitude applied.

DEAD LOADS

EARTHQUAKE LOADS

Acting vertically downward. Comprised of the self-weight of the structure and the parts permanently attached to it.

Consist of a series of longitudinal and transverse vibrations induced in the earth’s crust due to plate movement along fault lines.

LIVE LOADS Any moving or movable loads. These often include horizontal force as well as downward.

SETTLEMENT LOADS Result from the subsidence of a portion of the supporting soil and the resulting settlement of the foundation

IMPACT LOADS Kinetic loads of short duration caused by vehicles.

WIND LOADS Exerted by the kinetic energy of a moving mass of air, assumed horizontally.