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From these 31 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list Entry twenty-three is le cheminement des efforts , and the noun in the middle is the costliest false friend on this page. An English reader sees a word spelt like « effort » and hears trying hard, so the phrase arrives as something like the progress of everybody’s good work. It means nothing of the sort. In French mechanics un effort is a force carried inside a member, and the family around it is fixed vocabulary: l’effort normal is the axial force, l’effort tranchant is the shear, l’effort de traction is the tension, and les efforts in the plural are simply the internal forces a structure has to carry. So this entry is what an engineer calls the load path — the route by which weight and shaking travel down to the ground, beam to column to wall to footing, with no link missing anywhere along it. The everyday sense lives on beside the technical one, since faire un effort is still to make an effort, and only the subject of the sentence separates them. The rule of thumb is short: inside a building, read « force ».
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Noun (m) (15)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
le dimensionnement parasismique seismic design Noun (m) C2 Le dimensionnement parasismique part du sol, pas du bâtiment. Seismic design begins with the ground and not with the building on it.
le spectre de réponse the response spectrum Noun (m) C2 Le spectre de réponse résume le séisme en une courbe. A whole earthquake is boiled down to one curve in the response spectrum.
l’amortisseur à masse accordée the tuned mass damper Noun (m) C2 L’amortisseur à masse accordée pend en haut de la tour. A tuned mass damper hangs near the top of the tower.
le voile de contreventement the shear wall Noun (m) C2 Le voile de contreventement reprend les efforts horizontaux. Horizontal force is taken by the shear wall.
l’étage souple the soft storey Noun (m) C2 Un étage souple au rez-de-chaussée est un défaut classique. A soft storey at street level is the oldest fault in the book.
le dimensionnement en capacité capacity design Noun (m) C2 Le dimensionnement en capacité choisit où la structure cédera. Capacity design picks in advance where the structure is to give way.
le ferraillage de confinement the confining reinforcement Noun (m) C2 Le ferraillage de confinement tient le béton ensemble. Confining reinforcement is what stops the concrete bursting apart.
l’entrechoquement des bâtiments the pounding of buildings Noun (m) C2 L’entrechoquement des bâtiments abîme les façades voisines. Pounding between buildings wrecks the facades on both sides.
l’élément non structural the non-structural element Noun (m) C2 Un élément non structural blesse pourtant en tombant. A non-structural element carries nothing and still injures people when it drops.
le niveau de performance the performance level Noun (m) C2 Le niveau de performance dit ce que le maître d’ouvrage accepte. The performance level states what the client is prepared to live with.
le diaphragme de plancher the floor diaphragm Noun (m) C2 Le diaphragme de plancher répartit la force entre les murs. The floor diaphragm shares the force out among the walls.
le cheminement des efforts the load path Noun (m) C2 Le cheminement des efforts doit aller jusqu’au sol sans rupture. The load path has to reach the ground without a break in it.
le soulèvement des fondations the uplift of the foundations Noun (m) C2 Le soulèvement des fondations n’est pas toujours un défaut. Uplift of the foundations is not always a defect.
le microzonage the microzonation Noun (m) C2 Le microzonage distingue deux rues voisines. Microzonation can tell two neighbouring streets apart.
le coefficient d’importance the importance factor Noun (m) C2 Un hôpital reçoit un coefficient d’importance plus élevé. A hospital is given a higher importance factor than a warehouse.
Noun (f) (16)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
la période propre the natural period Noun (f) C2 La période propre s’allonge quand le bâtiment monte. The taller the block goes, the longer its natural period becomes.
l’amplification du site site amplification Noun (f) C2 L’amplification du site double parfois la secousse ressentie. Site amplification can leave the shaking twice as strong as it arrived.
l’ossature en portique the moment frame Noun (f) C2 L’ossature en portique plie sans casser. A moment frame bends a long way before anything breaks.
l’irrégularité structurale the structural irregularity Noun (f) C2 Une irrégularité structurale concentre les dégâts à un endroit. A structural irregularity gathers the damage into one corner.
la torsion the torsion Noun (f) C2 La torsion apparaît quand le centre de rigidité se décale. Torsion turns up as soon as the centre of stiffness sits off to one side.
la rotule plastique the plastic hinge Noun (f) C2 La rotule plastique se forme au pied du poteau. The plastic hinge opens at the foot of the column.
la rupture fragile the brittle failure Noun (f) C2 La rupture fragile ne prévient pas. Brittle failure gives no notice at all.
la maçonnerie non armée the unreinforced masonry Noun (f) C2 La maçonnerie non armée supporte mal les secousses. Unreinforced masonry copes badly with shaking.
l’évaluation rapide the rapid assessment Noun (f) C2 L’évaluation rapide décide si l’on peut rentrer chez soi. Whether anyone may go home is settled by the rapid assessment.
les dispositions constructives ductiles the ductile detailing Noun (f) C2 Les dispositions constructives ductiles coûtent peu à la conception. Ductile detailing costs almost nothing while the drawings are still open.
la limite de déplacement the drift limit Noun (f) C2 La limite de déplacement protège surtout les cloisons. It is the partitions above all that a drift limit protects.
l’analyse en poussée progressive the pushover analysis Noun (f) C2 L’analyse en poussée progressive pousse le modèle jusqu’à la ruine. A pushover analysis keeps pushing the model until it falls down.
l’analyse temporelle the time-history analysis Noun (f) C2 L’analyse temporelle rejoue un séisme enregistré. A time-history analysis plays a recorded earthquake through again.
la table vibrante the shaking table Noun (f) C2 La table vibrante secoue une maquette à l’échelle. A scale model is shaken on the shaking table.
la prévention de l’effondrement collapse prevention Noun (f) C2 La prévention de l’effondrement laisse le bâtiment debout et perdu. Collapse prevention leaves a building upright and beyond saving.
l’inspection après séisme the post-earthquake inspection Noun (f) C2 L’inspection après séisme se fait avec une pastille de couleur. A post-earthquake inspection ends with a coloured sticker on the door.
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