Interpreting load paths and stress trajectories in elasticity

Design engineers use the term load path to describe, in general terms, the way in which loads Path through a structure from the points of application to the points where they are reacted. In contrast, stress trajectories are more clearly identified by the direction of the principal stress vectors at a point The first author proposed a simple definition of the term load pat h in 1995 and proposed procedures to determine load paths from two-dimensio nal finite element solutions. In this paper the concept of load Paths will be further explored and related to stress trajectories and Michell structur es. The insight given when determining the load transfer near a pin-loaded hob will be demonstrated. In addition a cantilevered beam will be considere d and an introduction to plotting load paths in three-dimensional structure s is given.