Statically indeterminate
Statically indeterminate is a condition when the equilibrium equations – force and moment equilibrium conditions – are insufficient for determining the internal forces and reactions on that structure. The term, and its opposite, statically determinate, are used in statics, structural mechanics, and mechanical engineering.
Mathematics
Based on Newton's laws of motion, the equilibrium equations available for a two-dimensional body are:In the beam construction on the right, the four unknown reactions are,,, and. The equilibrium equations are:
Since there are four unknown forces but only three equilibrium equations, this system of simultaneous equations does not have a unique solution. The structure is therefore classified as statically indeterminate.
To solve statically indeterminate systems, one considers the material properties and compatibility in deformations.
Statically determinate
If the support at is removed, the reaction cannot occur, and the system becomes statically determinate. Note that the system is completely constrained here.The system becomes an exact constraint kinematic coupling.
The solution to the problem is:
If, in addition, the support at is changed to a roller, the system can be moved horizontally, making it a mechanism rather than a structure, and reducing the number of reactions to three. As a result, the system becomes unstable or partly constrained, with the latter term preferable in distinguishing between this condition and when a system under equilibrium becomes unstable through a perturbation. In this case, the two unknowns and can be determined by resolving the vertical force equation and the moment equation simultaneously. The solution yields the same results as previously obtained. However, it is not possible to satisfy the horizontal force equation unless.
Statical determinacy
Descriptively, a statically determinate structure can be defined as a structure where, if it is possible to find internal actions in equilibrium with external loads, those internal actions are unique. The structure has no possible states of self-stress, i.e. internal forces in equilibrium with zero external loads are not possible. Statical indeterminacy, however, is the existence of a non-trivial solution to the homogeneous system of equilibrium equations. It indicates the possibility of self-stress that may be induced by mechanical or thermal action.Mathematically, this requires a stiffness matrix to have full rank.
A statically indeterminate structure can only be analyzed by including further information like material properties and deflections. Numerically, this can be achieved by using matrix structural analyses, finite element method or the moment distribution method .
Practically, a structure is called 'statically overdetermined' when it comprises more mechanical constraints – like walls, columns or bolts – than absolutely necessary for stability.