FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF LATERAL LOADS

Apart from gravity loads which are applied to structures vertically, lateral loads are also taken into consideration in the design because apart from the applied horizontal forces they are, they are not uniformly and regularly occurring. The different types of lateral loads considered in structural design are as follows:

1. Wind load
2. Earthquake load
3. Fluid pressure
4. Earth pressure

courtesy of USGS

Wind load is the most common lateral load. Design involving wind load are usually taken as a uniform force.

Earthquake load, on the other hand is the hardest to consider. The complexity of design lies on the uncertainty of their occurrence. Although it is assumed that properly analyzed gravity loads are adequate to withstand the vertical component of the earthquake, the horizontal components of the movement are taken as critical in a structural analysis.

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