The line of thrust is the
locus of the points, through which forces pass in a
retaining wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides.
Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
or an
arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vau ...
. It is the line, along which
internal forces flow
In a stone structure, the line of thrust is a theoretical line that through the structure represents the path of the resultant
In mathematics, the resultant of two polynomials is a polynomial expression of their coefficients, which is equal to zero if and only if the polynomials have a common root (possibly in a field extension), or, equivalently, a common factor (ov ...
s of the compressive forces
For a structure to be stable, the line of thrust must lie entirely inside the structure
Where important
The line of thrust is important in almost any architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
bearing weight. This includes aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
, bridges
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
, plus arches; see catenary arch
A catenary arch is a type of architectural arch that follows an inverted catenary curve. The catenary curve has been employed in buildings since ancient times. It forms an underlying principle to the overall system of vaults and buttresses i ...
.
An arch won't collapse, when the line of thrust is entirely internal to the arch
See also
* Damage tolerance
In engineering, damage tolerance is a property of a structure relating to its ability to sustain defects safely until repair can be effected. The approach to engineering design to account for damage tolerance is based on the assumption that flaws ...
* Force lines Force lines method is used in Solid Mechanics for visualization of internal forces in a deformed body. A force line represents graphically the internal force acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces. The force lines show the maximal i ...
* Strength of materials
The field of strength of materials, also called mechanics of materials, typically refers to various methods of calculating the stresses and strains in structural members, such as beams, columns, and shafts. The methods employed to predict the re ...
* Stress concentration
In solid mechanics, a stress concentration (also called a stress raiser or a stress riser) is a location in an object where the stress is significantly greater than the surrounding region. Stress concentrations occur when there are irregularit ...
* Structural fracture mechanics
Structural fracture mechanics is the field of structural engineering concerned with the study of load-carrying structures that includes one or several failed or damaged components. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics, structural engineer ...
* Stress intensity factor
In fracture mechanics, the stress intensity factor () is used to predict the stress state ("stress intensity") near the tip of a crack or notch caused by a remote load or residual stresses. It is a theoretical construct usually applied to a h ...
* Stress–strain analysis
External links
One largish article, talks about ''line of thrust''
A definition
Another definition
A third reference
Mechanics
Construction
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