In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more

triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to
as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and
result in forces in the members which are either tensile or compressive forces. Moments
(torques) are explicitly excluded because, and only because, all the joints in a truss are treated as
revolutes.

A planar truss is one where all the members and nodes lie within a two dimensional plane, while
a space truss has members and nodes extending into three dimensions.

Truss bridge for a single track railway, converted to pedestrian use and pipeline support
Contents
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 1 Characteristics of trusses
o 1.1 Planar truss
o 1.2 Space frame truss
 2 Truss types
o 2.1 Pratt truss
o 2.2 Bowstring truss
o 2.3 King post truss
o 2.4 Lenticular truss
o 2.5 Town's lattice truss
o 2.6 Vierendeel truss
 3 Statics of trusses
 4 Analysis of trusses
o 4.1 Forces in members
o 4.2 Design of members
o 4.3 Design of joints
 5 Applications
o 5.1 Post frame structures
 6 Gallery
 7 See also
 8 References
 9 External links

[edit] Characteristics of trusses

A truss consists of straight members connected at joints. Trusses are composed of triangles
because of the structural stability of that shape and design. A triangle is the simplest geometric
figure that will not change shape when the lengths of the sides are fixed.[1] In comparison, both
the angles and the lengths of a four-sided figure must be fixed for it to retain its shape.

[edit] Planar truss

Planar roof trusses

The simplest form of a truss is one single square. This type of truss is seen in a framed roof
consisting of rafters and aPlanar trusses are typically used in parallel to form roofs and bridges.

The depth of a truss, or the height between the upper and lower chords, is what makes it an
efficient structural form. A solid girder or beam of equal strength would have substantial weight
and material cost as compared to a truss. For a given span length, a deeper truss will require less
material in the chords and greater material in the verticals and diagonals. An optimum depth of
the truss will maximize the efficiency.[2]

[edit] Space frame truss

A space frame truss is a three-dimensional framework of members pinned at their ends. A

tetrahedron shape is the simplest space truss, consisting of six members which meet at four
joints.[3] Large planar structures may be composed from tetrahedrons with common edges and
they are also employed in the base structures of large free-standing power line pylons


Simple tetrahedron

Diagram of a planar space frame such as used for a roof

Four tetrahedrons form each of the two lower base structures of this power pylon

[edit] Truss types

A large timber Howe truss in a commercial building
For more truss types, see List of truss types or Truss Bridge.

There are two basic types of truss:

 The pitched truss, or common truss, is characterized by its triangular shape. It is most
often used for roof construction. Some common trusses are named according to their web
configuration. The chord size and web configuration are determined by span, load and
spacing.
 The parallel chord truss, or flat truss, gets its name from its parallel top and bottom
chords. It is often used for floor construction.

A combination of the two is a truncated truss, used in hip roof construction. A metal plate-
connected wood truss is a roof or floor truss whose wood members are connected with metal
connector plates.

[edit] Pratt truss

The Pratt truss was patented in 1844 by two Boston railway engineers,[4] Caleb
Pratt and his son Thomas Willis Pratt.[5] The design uses vertical members for compression and
horizontal members to respond to tension. What is remarkable about this style is that it remained
popular even as wood gave way to iron, and even still as iron gave way to steel.[6] The continued
popularity of the Pratt truss is probably due to the fact that the configuration of the members
means that longer diagonal members are only in tension for gravity load effects. This allows
these members to be used more efficiently, as slenderness effects related to buckling under
compression loads (which are compounded by the length of the member) will typically not
control the design. Therefore, for given planar truss with a fixed depth, the Pratt configuration is
usually the most efficient under static, vertical loading.
The Southern Pacific Railroad bridge in Tempe, Arizona is a 393 meter (1,291 foot) long truss
bridge built in 1912.[7] The structure is composed of nine Pratt truss spans of varying lengths.
The bridge is still in use today.

The Wright Flyer used a Pratt truss in its wing construction, as the minimization of compression
member lengths allowed for lower aerodynamic drag.[8]

[edit] Bowstring truss

Named for their shape, bowstring trusses were first used for arched truss bridges, known as tied-
arch bridges.

Thousands of bowstring trusses were used during World War II for holding up the curved roofs
of aircraft hangars and other military buildings. Many variations exist in the arrangements of the
members connecting the nodes of the upper arc with those of the lower, straight sequence of
members, from nearly isosceles triangles to a variant of the Platt truss.

[edit] King post truss

Main article: King post

One of the simplest truss styles to implement, the king post consists of two angled supports
leaning into a common vertical support.

The queen post truss, sometimes queenpost or queenspost, is similar to a king post truss in that
the outer supports are angled towards the center of the structure. The primary difference is the
horizontal extension at the centre which relies on beam action to provide mechanical stability.
This truss style is only suitable for relatively short spans.[9]

[edit] Lenticular truss

The Waterville Bridge in Swatara State Park in Pennsylvania is a lenticular truss

Lenticular trusses, patented in 1878 by William Douglas, have the top and bottom chords of the
truss arched, forming a lens shape. A lenticular pony truss bridge is a bridge design that involves
a lenticular truss extending above and below the roadbed.

[edit] Town's lattice truss

Main article: Lattice truss bridge

American architect Ithiel Town designed Town's Lattice Truss as an alternative to heavy-
timber bridges. His design, patented in 1820 and 1835, uses easy-to-handle planks arranged
diagonally with short spaces in between them.

[edit] Vierendeel truss

Further information: Vierendeel bridge

A Vierendeel bridge; note the lack of diagonal elements in the primary structure and the way
bending loads are carried between elements

The Vierendeel truss is a truss where the members are not triangulated but form rectangular
openings, and is a frame with fixed joints that are capable of transferring and resisting bending
moments. Regular trusses comprise members that are commonly assumed to have pinned joints,
with the implication that no moments exist at the jointed ends. This style of truss was named
after the Belgian engineer Arthur Vierendeel,[10] who developed the design in 1896. Its use for
bridges is rare due to higher costs compared to a triangulated truss.

The utility of this type of truss in buildings is that a large amount of the exterior envelope
remains unobstructed and can be used for fenestration and door openings. This is preferable to a
braced-frame system, which would leave some areas obstructed by the diagonal braces.

[edit] Statics of trusses

A truss that is assumed to comprise members that are connected by means of pin joints, and
which is supported at both ends by means of hinged joints or rollers, is described as being
statically determinate. Newton's Laws apply to the structure as a whole, as well as to each node
or joint. In order for any node that may be subject to an external load or force to remain static in
space, the following conditions must hold: the sums of all (horizontal and vertical) forces, as
well as all moments acting about the node equal zero. Analysis of these conditions at each node
yields the magnitude of the forces in each member of the truss. These may be compression or
tension forces.

Trusses that are supported at more than two positions are said to be statically indeterminate, and
the application of Newton's Laws alone is not sufficient to determine the member forces.

In order for a truss with pin-connected members to be stable, it must be entirely composed of
triangles. In mathematical terms, we have the following necessary condition for stability:

where m is the total number of truss members, j is the total number of joints and r is the number
of reactions (equal to 3 generally) in a 2-dimensional structure.

When m = 2j − 3, the truss is said to be statically determinate, because the (m+3) internal
member forces and support reactions can then be completely determined by 2j equilibrium
equations, once we know the external loads and the geometry of the truss. Given a certain
number of joints, this is the minimum number of members, in the sense that if any member is
taken out (or fails), then the truss as a whole fails. While the relation (a) is necessary, it is not
sufficient for stability, which also depends on the truss geometry, support conditions and the load
carrying capacity of the members.

Some structures are built with more than this minimum number of truss members. Those
structures may survive even when some of the members fail. Their member forces depend on the
relative stiffness of the members, in addition to the equilibrium condition described.

[edit] Analysis of trusses

Cremona diagram for a plane truss

Because the forces in each of its two main girders are essentially planar, a truss is usually
modelled as a two-dimensional plane frame. If there are significant out-of-plane forces, the
structure must be modelled as a three-dimensional space.

The analysis of trusses often assumes that loads are applied to joints only and not at intermediate
points along the members. The weight of the members is often insignificant compared to the
applied loads and so is often omitted. If required, half of the weight of each member may be
applied to its two end joints. Provided the members are long and slender, the moments
transmitted through the joints are negligible and they can be treated as "hinges" or 'pin-joints'.
Every member of the truss is then in pure compression or pure tension – shear, bending moment,
and other more complex stresses are all practically zero. This makes trusses easier to analyze.
This also makes trusses physically stronger than other ways of arranging material – because
nearly every material can hold a much larger load in tension and compression than in shear,
bending, torsion, or other kinds of force.

Structural analysis of trusses of any type can readily be carried out using a matrix method such
as the direct stiffness method, the flexibility method or the finite element method.

[edit] Forces in members

On the right is a simple, statically determinate flat truss with 9 joints and (2 x 9) − 3 = 15
members. External loads are concentrated in the outer joints. Since this is a symmetrical truss
with symmetrical vertical loads, it is clear to see that the reactions at A and B are equal, vertical
and half the total load.
The internal forces in the members of the truss can be calculated in a variety of ways including
the graphical methods:

 Cremona diagram
 Culmann diagram
 the analytical Ritter method (method of sections).

[edit] Design of members

A truss can be thought of as a beam where the web consists of a series of separate members
instead of a continuous plate. In the truss, the lower horizontal member (the bottom chord) and
the upper horizontal member (the top chord) carry tension and compression, fulfilling the same
function as the flanges of an I-beam. Which chord carries tension and which carries compression
depends on the overall direction of bending. In the truss pictured above right, the bottom chord is
in tension, and the top chord in compression.

The diagonal and vertical members form the truss web, and carry the shear force. Individually,
they are also in tension and compression, the exact arrangement of forces is depending on the
type of truss and again on the direction of bending. In the truss shown above right, the vertical
members are in tension, and the diagonals are in compression.

A building under construction in Shanghai. The truss sections stabilize the building and will
house mechanical floors.

In addition to carrying the static forces, the members serve additional functions of stabilizing
each other, preventing buckling. In the picture to the right, the top chord is prevented from
buckling by the presence of bracing and by the stiffness of the web members.

The inclusion of the elements shown is largely an engineering decision based upon economics,
being a balance between the costs of raw materials, off-site fabrication, component
transportation, on-site erection, the availability of machinery and the cost of labor. In other cases
the appearance of the structure may take on greater importance and so influence the design
decisions beyond mere matters of economics. Modern materials such as prestressed concrete and
fabrication methods, such as automated welding, have significantly influenced the design of
modern bridges.

Once the force on each member is known, the next step is to determine the cross section of the
individual truss members. For members under tension the cross-sectional area A can be found
using A = F × γ / σy, where F is the force in the member, γ is a safety factor (typically 1.5 but
depending on building codes) and σy is the yield tensile strength of the steel used.
The members under compression also have to be designed to be safe against buckling.

The weight of a truss member depends directly on its cross section—that weight partially
determines how strong the other members of the truss need to be. Giving one member a larger
cross section than on a previous iteration requires giving other members a larger cross section as
well, to hold the greater weight of the first member—one needs to go through another iteration to
find exactly how much greater the other members need to be. Sometimes the designer goes
through several iterations of the design process to converge on the "right" cross section for each
member. On the other hand, reducing the size of one member from the previous iteration merely
makes the other members have a larger (and more expensive) safety factor than is technically
necessary, but doesn't require another iteration to find a build able truss.

The effect of the weight of the individual truss members in a large truss, such as a bridge, is
usually insignificant compared to the force of the external loads.

[edit] Design of joints

After determining the minimum cross section of the members, the last step in the design of a
truss would be detailing of the bolted joints, e.g., involving shear of the bolt connections used in
the joints, see also shear stress. Based of the needs of the project, truss internal connections
(joints) can be designed as rigid, semi rigid, or hinged. Rigid connections can allow transfer of
bending moments leading to development of secondary bending moments in the members.

[edit] Applications
[edit] Post frame structures

Component connections are critical to the structural integrity of a framing system. In buildings
with large, clearspan wood trusses, the most critical connections are those between the truss and
its supports. In addition to gravity-induced forces (a.k.a. bearing loads), these connections must
resist shear forces acting perpendicular to the plane of the truss and uplift forces due to wind.
Depending upon overall building design, the connections may also be required to transfer
bending moment.

Wood posts enable the fabrication of strong, direct, yet inexpensive connections between large
trusses and walls. Exact details for post-to-truss connections vary from designer to designer, and
may be influenced by post type. Solid-sawn timber and glulam posts are generally notched to
form a truss bearing surface. The truss is rested on the notches and bolted into place. A special
plate/bracket may be added to increase connection load transfer capabilities. With mechanically-
laminated posts, the truss may rest on a shortened outer-ply or on a shortened inner-ply. The later
scenario places the bolts in double shear and is a very effective connection.

[edit] Gallery