Structural Supports and Connections in Civil Engineering - A Brief Explanation

Supports help to maintain the stability and performance of the construction structure. The supports have been connected to the ground or other types of structural elements to transfer the different forces to the ground.

The support analysis of a construction structure helps to understand how different types of loads have been distributed in the construction structure and how these loads have been transferred into the ground.

Importance of support in the structural designs

There are several benefits of using supports in structural designs, which are as follows:

Distribution of the loads

The main importance of supports in the structural design is that they help to distribute the forces and loads of the construction structure. The supports help to determine the direction and size of the loads during the construction process. Thus, the support system can manage the transformation of the loads from the foundation of the construction structure to the ground.

Providing building stability

The support structure has the ability to withstand the loads, providing stability to the building structure, thus helping to prevent the structure from collapsing. The support systems, including walls, shear walls and braces, help to provide stability to the construction structure.

Reduction of the vibrations

In the building structure, the support system helps to minimise the vibrations. In this context, the foundation isolators, dampers and tuned mass dampers can be used to prevent vibration.

Deflection control

The support system, for example, beams, walls and columns, helps to restrict the structural deflection and allows the resistance of the heavy loads.

Learn about the different types of supports and their reactions used in the civil engineering field

The construction structure needs to be supported to remain in equilibrium under any forces. Different types of supports have been used in the civil engineering sector, which develop the forces as a reaction to those supports.

Two types of supports have been applied in structural engineering, which are:

External supports

Different types of external supports are available, which include:

Fixed support

All kinds of loads can be resisted by the fixed supports. These types of supports allow the translation and rotation motion to the structural members. The fixed support involves in the providence of greater stability to the construction structure. The electric poles in the streets and welded joints in the steel are examples of fixed support.

Roller support

The roller support is able to translate and rotate along the structure’s surface. Only one reaction has been seen for the roller support that acts on the construction structure’s surface. The roller stake is an example of the roller support, which helps to resist the vertical loads of the person who standing on it.

Rocker support

The horizontal translation and rotation motion has been allowed by this type of external support. In addition, this support also resists the vertical forces.

Hinged support or Pinned support

There are two support reactions for the pinned support. The pinned support helps to allow the rotation of the structural members in any direction. The door leaf is an appropriate example of the pinned support, which can rotate along with its vertical axis.

Link support

There are two hinges in the link support, which help to allow the translation and rotation perpendicular to the direction of the link. There is a single linear resultant force component that can be resolved into the horizontal and vertical components. The pillars are an example of the link support, which has been used to connect the other parts of the construction structure.

Simple support

The structural members rest on the simple support. Only vertical movements of the support have been supported by the simple support, and any kind of lateral movements are not supported by this type of support. These types of support are not widely used in real-life structures. The plank of wood above the concrete block is an example of a simple support.

Frictionless support

These types of supports have been used to prevent the movement of the curved or flat faces in the normal direction. These types of supports are equivalent to the mirror symmetry condition in the case of using for a solid or flat surface body.

Internal supports

There are two types of internal supports that have been applied in the construction structures, which are:

Internal hinge support

These types of supports have the ability to resist translation in both directions. The rotation of the structure has been allowed by the internal hinge support. In the case of arch-type bridges, these types of supports can be applied.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

Video Source: Dr Nafie - Structural Engineering

Internal roller support

In the tower cranes, the internal roller support can be applied, as a result, heavy materials can be shifted from one place to another.