Structural system, in building construction, the particular method of assembling and constructing structural elements of a building so that they support and transmit applied loads safely to the ground without exceeding the allowable stresses in the members. Basic types of systems include bearing-wall, post-and-lintel, frame, membrane, and suspension. They fall into three major categories: low-rise, high-rise, and long-span. Systems for long-span buildings (column-free spaces of more than 100 feet, or 30 metres) include tension and compression systems (subject to bending) and funicular systems, which are shaped to experience either pure tension or pure compression. Bending structures include the girder and two-way grids and slabs. Funicular structures include cable structures, membrane structures, and vaults and domes. See also shell structure.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
Bearing wall, Wall that carries the load of floors and roof above in addition to its own weight. The traditional masonry bearing wall is thickened in proportion to the forces it has to resist: its own weight, the dead load of floors and roof, the live load of…
Post-and-lintel system, in building construction, a system in which two upright members, the posts, hold up a third member, the lintel, laid horizontally across their top surfaces. All structural openings have evolved from this system, which is seen in pure form only in colonnades and in framed structures, because the…
Framed building, structure in which weight is carried by a skeleton or framework, as opposed to being supported by walls. The essential factor in a framed building is the frame’s strength. Timber-framed or half-timbered houses were common in medieval Europe. In this type the frame is filled in with wattle…
Membrane structure, Structure with a thin, flexible surface (membrane) that carries loads primarily through tensile stresses. There are two main types: tent structures and pneumatic structures. The Denver International Airport (1995) features a terminal building roofed by a white membrane stretched from steel masts. Another such structure is London’s The…
Girder, in building construction, a horizontal main supporting beam that carries a vertical concentrated load. Seebeam.…