• Learn about good structural form
  • Design expressive and efficient structures
  • Understand complex structural behaviour
  • Analyze existing structures
  • Learn Graphic Statics

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Funicular structures have only axial forces in either tension or compression for the loading case they have been designed for. Their shape is determined by the magnitude of the horizontal thrust in it, which can be controlled in the force polygon, and the boundary conditions.

Manipulate the shape of the top compression chord of this structure using the sliders. The shape of the bottom chord will change automatically so that a constant force is always found in all of its elements.

Note that there is no force in the diagonals of a lenticular arch designed for uniformly distributed vertical loading. Check the box to the right to add an asymmetrical load and see what happens.

Use the white handles to change the shape of the blue arched structure of the Waterloo Station in London (UK), and the location of the internal hinge, to understand the need for tension stiffening in a structure that does not have a funicular shape.

Use the slider to go through the important steps in a typical graphic statics construction: 1) constructing the load line; 2-4) finding the resultant of a set of loads, using a trial funicular polygon; and 5-10) using a simple equivalent structure to find the reaction forces graphically.

Interactive, Graphic Statics-based Structural Design

News

Claudia Ernst joins the eQuilibrium team as drawing developer.

Lukas Ballo joins the eQUILBIRUM team as drawing developer.

Results obtained with eQ presented at the SMG International Seminar 2011 in London, UK. Read our paper here.

Interactive homepage online

Success in first user trial with 250 students at D-ARCH, ETH Zurich

eQUILIBRIUM project gets help from 6 student developers

Dr. Tom Van Mele starts eQUILIBRIUM development

In eQUILIBRIUM, the design and analysis of structures are taught through interactive, graphic statics-based drawings created with GeoGebra rather than text and equations.

Graphic statics is a powerful method for the design and analysis of structures that, by using force polygons and simple geometric construction techniques, provides intuitive visual information about the relation between form and forces in a structural system.

In GeoGebra, graphic statics constructions can be made without programming skills using the same simple geometric techniques used on paper (with pencil, ruler and compass). The elements that make up the drawing can be dynamically changed afterwards to interactively explore the relation between form and forces with real-time visual feedback.

Therefore, the combination of graphic statics and GeoGebra provides an interesting and engaging way to illustrate and explain the behaviour of structures and allows users to quickly start making their own drawings for their structural analyses and design explorations.