Structural Movement

• The main cause of movement are simple expansion & contraction due to change in temperature or moisture content .
• Such movement is not usually too serious if it affects the entire structure uniformly , but problems can arise through differentiual movement between parts of the structure differently affected by temperature or moisture content .
• Moisture content variations are the usual cause of movement in structural materials , such as concrete , masonry & wood , but only thermal movement is significant with metals .
• Movement with moisture content & temperature changes is a normal problems .
• This is allowed for in design & construction by the provision of movement joint .