Load Path
Definition
The route forces travel through a structure from their point of application to the ground. When one element fails, loads redistribute onto adjacent elements, sometimes triggering a cascade.
- Definition
- Route forces travel from application point to the ground
- Failure behaviour
- Loads redistribute onto adjacent elements
- Risk
- Redistribution can trigger a cascading collapse
Common questions
Why does the load path matter in a structural failure investigation?+
Tracing the load path shows which elements carried which forces before failure, letting investigators reconstruct how an initial local failure propagated through the rest of the structure.
What is meant by a cascade in load path failure?+
When one failed element transfers its load onto neighbouring elements that were never designed to carry the extra force, those elements can fail in turn, producing a sequential, spreading collapse.
Related terms
- Alternate Load Path
- A route by which loads can be redistributed around a failed element without causing progressive collapse. Its presence or absence is central...
- As-Built Drawing
- A drawing that records what was actually constructed, as opposed to the approved design drawing. Discrepancies between the two are a common...
- Collapse Mechanism
- The kinematic sequence of element failures that produced the observed final geometry of the collapse, reconstructed by investigators from wreckage patterns and...
- Progressive Collapse
- A failure mode in which local structural failure triggers a sequence of failures in adjacent members, resulting in collapse disproportionate to the...
- Tie-Force Method
- A prescriptive design approach requiring minimum tensile continuity across connections so that elements can hang or span around a failed support rather...