Structural Design– Caretaker of Safety and Stability in Building

Structural design is the complete process of creating perfect designs for the proposed creation; be it a building or non-building things like machinery, vehicles, medical equipment and anything else that need to be developed. Structure is the base of any form that supports or resists loads. Structural engineering is the study, analysis and designing of structures.The main concept of this study is based on applied physical laws combined with the knowledge of different materials and geometries along with their structural performances.

Prior to the 19th century, an architect and a structural engineer are one and the same. However, today professional structural engineers differ widely in their responsibility and duties.

Responsibility of Structural Engineers:
Structural engineers are expected to createstructural design that successfully satisfies the expected criteria, purpose, safety, performance and overall functionality. Whatever structure they are designed, they must not collapse, must not cause discomfort and must resist the natural calamities like earthquake and tsunamis. They are expected to utilize the right materials and structural elements with the available funds and to create innovative designs.

Key points to be noted in structuraldesign

While the engineers indulge in structural design, the main concernof their plan must be towards
*    Reliability and Safety
*    Stability against external forces and loads
*    Potential or strength

Structural design is directly responsible for the support of the building. The details regarding

*    Columns
*    Floors
*    Walls and
*    Beams are dealt with this.

Nowadays, steel and other structural designs are prepared with Designing software applications using D and D techniques.A structural engineer has to be familiar with using these software applications.