Technical Guidance Note (Level 1, No. 17): Element size estimation

This note explains the various methods adopted to ensure lateral stability and robustness in structures.

This note explains how steel elements are restrained against buckling and what the structural engineer should consider when analysing steel structures with respect to buckling resistance.

Moment distribution is a method by which statically indeterminate structures are analysed elastically. It’s based on the relative stiffness of elements, and shifts bending moments from one section of the structure to another until they become balanced. Once this balance has been achieved, forces and bending moments are modelled. Updated in October 2016.