Design Temperature for Structural Elements

Following a review of different methods of analysis of temperature effects, a simplified method is proposed for probabilistic analysis. Using a simple one-dimensional element for illustration, it is shown that the transfer functions for unrestrained curvature or strain are similar to the transfer function of a time averaging filter. The analysis for extremes of structural effects can be replaced by simply applying a moving average to a temperature history. The appropriate averaging time is obtained by matching the shape of the structural effect transfer function and the time averaging transfer function. Graphs showing the mean upcrossing rate of the time averaged temperature history can be prepared for a region. The designer then needs to know only the appropriate averaging time for a building element and solves a steady state problem to find the design value of strain or curvature.