A talk on

THREE CONCEPTS FOR DESIGNING STIFFER STRUCTURES

Dr. Tianjian Ji    CEng  MIStructE  RA

Dept. of Civil and Construction Engineering, UMIST

Buildings have become taller, floors wider and bridges longer in recent years. It is expected that the trend of 
increasing heights and spans will continue in the future. The basic theory of structures tells that the deflection 
of a single-span structure is proportional to its span powered four. How can engineers cope with the 
ever-increased heights and spans, and design structures
with sufficient stiffness? Adding supports, reducing 
span or increasing sizes of cross-
sections of members can effectively increase structural stiffness. However, 
these measures may not always be applicable to many practical problems due to aesthetic, structural or service 
requirements. What are the concepts behind these measures? Are there any other measure using these concepts 
to make a structure stiffer? This talk will demonstrate three concepts and new measure for designing stiffer 
structures.

The talk will show how the three simple but effective concepts can be obtained from the basics of structural 
mechanics and how the concepts can be implemented into practice. Simple examples and laboratory tests will be 
given to illustrate the concepts and their implementation. Two physical models are provided which allow engineers 
to touch and feel the efficiency of the concepts and to stimulate their own ideas for applications. Several practical
examples will be provided to show the application and the effectiveness of the concepts.

The talk is developed and tailored to meet busy engineers’ requirements, which is about one hour 
plus a half-hour discussions and questions. It will be given at
your office and allow as many structural engineers
as possible to benefit.

The talk aims to help engineers

·      to understand the new ways to increase the stiffness of a structure without using extra materials,

·      to know the potential of the concepts being applied into designs,

·      to develop a sense to judge relative stiffnesses of several similar structures, and

·      possibly to stimulate their own ideas for implementing these concepts into practice.

  If your are interested, please contact Dr. Tianjian Ji,  Tel: 0161 200 4604, email: tji@umist.ac.uk