Structures Notes, Animations and Exercises

The photo above illustrates why it is necessary to calculate a factor of safety into the design of structures.

Factor of safety explained in the Structures Notes and Animations software package.

Sample Animations

• Welding
• Wood Joints
• Types of Bridges
• Structures Exercise

Free crosswords for design & technology

Interactive crosswords and PDF versions.

Structures Notes and Animations

The contents are listed below:

• Introduction: what is a structure? 
• Frame structures
• Shell structures
• Combination of frame and shell structures
• Stone structures
• Brick and block structures
• Concrete structures
• Composites
• Loads
• Forces:
  • compression
  • tension
  • torsion
  • shear
  • bending
• Structural sections
• Joints in wooden structures (See details below)
• Knock-down fittings
• Joints in metal structures
  • welding
  • soldering and brazing
  • riveting
  • nuts, bolts, screws
• Joints in plastic structures
• Physical and chemical properties, and characteristics of materials used in structures
• Support and reinforcement of structures
• Equilibrium
• Centre of gravity
• Moments
• Force diagrams
  • parallelogram of forces
  • triangle of forces
• Testing structures
• Interactive Exercises: exploring the qualities of structures / calculations / interpreting numeric information
• Bridges 
  • beam bridges
  • continuous span bridge
  • simple span bridge
  • cantilever span bridge
  • cantilever with suspended span bridge
  • Warren deck truss bridge
  • Warren (through)Truss
  • Pratt Truss (through truss)
  • Howe Truss (through truss)
  • Lattice Truss (through truss)
  • Plate girder bridge 
  • Deck beam bridge
  • Orthotropic beam bridge
  • Rigid frame (inclined legs)
  • Rigid Frame (with V- legs)
  • Stone arch bridge
  • Open spandrel deck arch bridge
  • Spandrel braced arch bridge
  • Cantilever through truss bridge
  • Trussed deck arch bridge
  • Trussed through arch bridge
  • Ribbed arch bridge
  • Suspension bridge
  • Cable stayed bridge
• Bridges: Newcastle bridges
• Bridges: River Danube bridges from Vienna - Budapest

The Structures package includes all the animations in the Wood Joints Animation.

Wood Joints Animations

• The reason that wood joints are used
• Butt joint
• Lapped joint
• Tongue and grooved joint
• Finger joint / comb joint
• Dovetail joint
• Lapped dovetail joint
• Housing joint
• Corner bridle joint
• Through mortice and tenon joint
• Stopped mortice and tenon joint
• "T" halving joint
• Bare faced tenon joint
• Dowelled joint
• Cross halving joint
• "T" bridle joint

The package also includes:

• Workshop safety rules
• Workshop safety in detail
• Risk assessment exercises

Animations are used throughout to
illustrate processes and principles.

Example exercises are shown above.

If you can read the question, type 
your answer into the box , then 
click the Check Answer button.

The screenshots illustrate how animations are used on text pages to illustrate topics.

Detailed animations explain processes such as the hand lay-up of GRP.

Learning Objectives

Students will learn that: 

• there are various types of structures, including frame structures, shell structures, combination of frame and shell structures, and structures made from bricks, blocks, stone and composites
• each structural type and each building material has its own specific technology
• loads and other forces act on structures, including compression, tension, torsion, shear, bending forces
• each material has specific chemical and physical properties
• materials used to build structures can be reinforced and strengthened in various ways, including using structural sections and composites
• equilibrium, moments, centre of gravity and force diagrams are used when designing structures
• a safety factor is calculated into the design of structures
• materials and components are fixed by temporary and  permanent ways by:
  • electric arc welding
  • soldering and brazing
  • riveting
  • nuts and bolts
  • adhesives
• solid timber is very absorbent at its ends
• the end of solid timber has "end grain"
• gluing to end grain results in a weak joint
• the aim of a wood joint is to: 
  • glue to the sides of timber whenever possible
  • include a mechanical joint 
• joints are designed for particular purposes
• there are a range of standard joints that are adapted for specific purposes.

With regard to safety, students will learn:

• safety rules
• designer's safety responsibility
• risk assessment
• safety rules and defined procedures
• hazard warnings and instructions
• safe materials
• safe storage of materials
• tool safety
• safety features on tools
• safe working practices
• safe working area
• product safety
• to write risk assessments.