Civil engineering is one of the most sought-after engineering disciplines, and perhaps one of the oldest ones too. The potential of infrastructure developments and advancements has led to the sizeable demand for civil engineers across all subsectors. As a result, civil engineering is emerging as a promising professional discipline with a wide range of applications and opportunities available across different industrial sectors.
Civil engineers basically deal with the designing, construction, and maintenance of the physical structures and built environments. One particular aspect of civil engineering that holds significant value when it comes to determining the potential of a civil engineer is structural design. The more a civil engineer is sound with the concept of structural design, the more impactful will be the physical built and sustainability of the structures built by him/her.
What is Structural Design?
Structural designing is fundamental to the civil engineering discipline as it deals directly with the structural strength and integrity of buildings or structures. It includes planning, designing, and structural analysis of large structures like skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels, towers, and even off-shore structures like oil rigs. Civil engineers are required to use structural design to ensure the safety and stability of the structure before they add in some creative designs into a structure for visual appeal.
Structural designing is based on applying the principles of physical laws and mathematics into building structures. With empirical research and analysis, civil engineers have to use structural design to analyze the structural design of the building and the strength of different materials used to determine its safety and economical specifications. Structural design ensures that the planned structure will be sufficiently strong enough to bear its intended load and withstand possible environmental conditions.
Ensures Build & Design of the Structure
Structural designing provide all the crucial information about foundations, walls, floors, roof types, steep beams, material quality, and more to ensure that the structure is built to be safe and sound. It is essential for civil engineers to work with design aesthetics and build structures that can withstand its loads and pressures without leading to any mishaps. Indeed, building a structure without considering the structural design of it always remains under the high risk of collapsing under its own weight or due to the environmental pressures. Structural designing is hence crucial to construction projects as it directly impacts the safety and durability of the structures.
Provides Analysis of the Structure
Civil engineers are required to perform a thorough and detailed analysis of the structure with respect to the principles of the structural design. This helps to ensure that the new structure meets up all the necessary safety criteria and design codes. Moreover, when an in-depth analysis of the structure is made, it helps bring out information about the load that the building is capable of bearing, the wind velocity it can withstand, and the overall utility and capability of the building under different environmental conditions. For instance, knowing the accurate estimation of the magnitude of tremors a skyscraper can withstand and the safe weight maximums on bridges can surely help prevent any catastrophes in future.
Helps Ensure Efficient Material Management
Structural designing is also interlinked with ensuring the efficient use of construction materials and resources. Civil engineers have to determine the optimal material grade to ensure safety and operational use of the structures without any unnecessary costs.
Structural designing is all-important for engineers to assist them at all phases of their projects. With rigorous structural testing, evaluations, and inspections, structural designing plays a significant role in satisfying the operational safety, practical functioning, and budgetary resources of the project while ensuring that all structural elements remain stable and safe.
We, at the Indore Institute of Science & Technology, one among the top civil engineering colleges in MP, understand the crucial role that structural designing and other such facets play in deciding the overall capabilities of engineers in the modern world. We hence offer engineering programs where high focus is laid on not only imparting the students with industry-centric academic learning but also ample hands-on experience and practical exposure. We, at IIST, aim at producing such skilled engineers for the nation who can be relied upon for delivering nothing less than the best. The state-of-the-art infrastructure and highly experienced faculty at IIST help to ensure that we bring out the most technically competent engineers for the future.