Compression member
{{Short description|Structural element carrying load}}
Image:"Amazing pillars and beams in World Heritage Monument Airavatesvara Temple".JPG, India]]
A compression member is a structural element that primarily resists forces, which act to shorten or compress the member along its length. Commonly found in engineering and architectural structures, such as columns, struts, and braces, compression members are designed to withstand loads that push or press on them without buckling or failing. The behavior and strength of a compression member depends on factors like material properties, cross-sectional shape, length, and the type of loading applied. These components are critical in frameworks like bridges, buildings, and towers, where they provide stability and support against vertical and lateral forces. In buildings, posts and columns are almost always compression members, as are the top chord of trusses in bridges, etc.
Design
For a compression member, such as a column, the principal stress primarily arises from axial forces, which act along a single axis, typically through the centroid of the member cross section.{{cite web |title=Compression member |url=http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/columns/intro.cfm |accessdate=2007-01-08 |publisher=}} As detailed in the article on buckling, the slenderness of a compression member, which is defined as the ratio of its effective length to its radius of gyration (), has a critical role in determining its strength and behavior with axial loading:{{Cite book |last=Roark |first=Raymond J. |title=Roark's formulas for stress and strain |last2=Young |first2=Warren C. |last3=Budynas |first3=Richard G. |date=2002 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-072542-3 |edition=7th |location=New York}}
- The load capacity of low slenderness (stocky) members is governed by their material compressive strength;
- Both material strength and buckling influence the load capacity of intermediate members; and
- The strength of slender (long) members is dominated by their buckling load.
Formulas for calculating the buckling strength of slender members were first developed by Euler, while equations like the Perry-Robertson formula are commonly applied to describe the behavior of intermediate members. The Eurocodes published by the Comité Européen de Normalisation provide guidance of the calculation of strength for compression members in concrete, masonry, steel and timber.{{Cite web |title=Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures {{!}} Eurocodes: Building the future |url=https://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/EN-Eurocodes/eurocode-3-design-steel-structures |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu}} There are other codes for steel compression members only.{{Cite book |title=Steel Construction Manual |publisher=American Institute of Steel Construction |isbn=978-1-56424-116-0 |edition=16}}{{Cite book |title=GB 50017 Standard for design of steel structures |publisher=Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China}}{{Cite book |title=IS 800 General construction in steel — code of practice |publisher=Bureau of Indian Standards}}{{Cite book |title=AS 4100 Steel structures |publisher=Standards Australia Limited |isbn=978 1 76072 947 9}}
See also
Notes
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929021907/http://www.digitalengineeringlibrary.com/dxreader/opendxreader.asp?chapterid=p2000a1fb9970525001 Columns and other compression members]
- [http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_comp.htm Bicycle compression members]
- [http://pubsindex.trb.org/document/view/default.asp?lbid=731981 Numerical load numbers for reinforced concrete compression members]
Category:Columns and entablature
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