ABSTRACT
The elastic theory of bending, as it has come to be known, has until quite recently been the basis of design for all structural materials, and when applied with judgement informed by a clear understanding of structural behaviour, has always resulted in safe structures. Timber has been used as a structural material ever since man acquired the tools for cutting down trees and converting them into shapes suitable for enclosing primitive shelters. Where tensile stresses occur in structural concrete, steel is provided in sufficient quantity, and in the appropriate positions, to resist the corresponding tensile forces, giving rise to the terminology of reinforced concrete. It is not too much of a simplification to assert that the choice of some structural materials avoids problems of detailing whilst the choice of others creates them. It is to both the Classical and Gothic styles one must refer to understand the relationship between detailing and structural form.
