live load
Variable structural burden
Live load is the variable weight a structure must support beyond its own mass—people, furniture, vehicles, snow, or anything that can be added or removed.
Engineers calculate live loads to ensure floors, bridges, and roofs can handle expected use: The bridge's live load capacity is 40 tons.
Contrasts with dead load, the permanent weight of the structure itself.
Movable room objects
- occupantsThose residing somewhere
- equipmentTools for a task
- appliancesPowered household equipment
- storageSpace for keeping goods
people · crowd · assembly · gathering · merchandise · inventory · fixtures · partitions
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- strainExcessive stretching force
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- overloadBurden beyond capacity
reinforcement · compression · tension · strength · structural integrity · maximum capacity
Limited in duration
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- variableProne to fluctuation
- dynamicActive and changing
- movingEmotionally affecting
fluctuating · intermittent · changing · shifting · unpredictable · periodic · cyclic · random
Laws governing structure safety
- occupancyState of inhabiting space
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- beamStructural support member
- joistHorizontal structural beam
column · flooring · roof · slab · truss · girder · span · foundation
Water accumulating in place
- driftGradual movement, no direction
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- weatherAtmospheric state outdoors
- precipitationAtmospheric water deposit
furniture
Movable room objects
- occupantsThose residing somewhere
- equipmentTools for a task
- appliancesPowered household equipment
storage · people · crowd · assembly · gathering · merchandise · inventory · fixtures · partitions · foot traffic
weight limit
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- strainExcessive stretching force
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
overload · reinforcement · compression · tension · strength · structural integrity · maximum capacity
temporary
Limited in duration
moving · fluctuating · intermittent · changing · shifting · unpredictable · periodic · cyclic · random · non-permanent
building codes
Laws governing structure safety
- occupancyState of inhabiting space
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- beamStructural support member
joist · column · flooring · roof · slab · truss · girder · span · foundation · shear
ponding
Water accumulating in place
- driftGradual movement, no direction
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- weatherAtmospheric state outdoors
- structural engineeringstructural design, structural analysis, structural steel, structural engineering, stress analysis
- dynamic loadsvibration
- structural loads
- mechanicsforce, turning, rotation, momentum, velocity
- structureshouse, bridge, buildings, dome, building
- building structurebeam, column, truss, joist, girder