History of Beams
Table of Contents
- 1 Brief History
- 2 First I-Beam
- 3 Failures of Beams
- 3.1 Flexure Failures
- 3.2 Shear Failures
- 3.2.1 Diagonal Tension Failure
- 3.2.2 Shear Compression Failure
- 3.2.3 Splitting Shear Failure
- 3.2.4 Anchorage Failure
- 4 References
- 4.1 Contributors:
Ancient Column Structure (Athens, Greece) [1] |
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Brief History
A beam in engineering was originally as simple as a solid piece of timber that was used as a beam for a house, a plow, or a balance.
Beams were designed to carry a load in multiple different structures, such as buildings, bridges, etc.
First I-Beam
The first I-beam was developed in 1849 by Alphonse Halbou.
The I-beam is an iconic beam in engineering because of sleek design and functionality.
The world's first steel building which was constructed in 1889 used I-beams which showed engineers around the world the strength of the I-beam.
The first I-beams could support approximately 20 stories, however when Henry Grey adjusted the design to reduce the internal stresses of the beam, then I-beams were able to be built larger and stronger which thus resulted in larger buildings [2].
Failures of Beams
Flexure Failures
Shear Failures
Diagonal Tension Failure
Shear Compression Failure
Splitting Shear Failure
Anchorage Failure