Structural Analysis I

(CE332)

Chapter 3:
Analysis of Statically Determinate Trusses
(Coplanar Trusses)
 Common Types of Trusses
 A truss is one of the major types of engineering structures which
provides a practical and economical solution for many engineering
constructions, especially in the design of bridges and buildings that
demand large spans.
 A truss is a structure composed of slender members joined together at their
end points
 The joint connections are usually formed by bolting or welding the ends of
the members to a common plate called gusset plate or by simply passing a
large bolt or pin through each of the members.
 Planar trusses lie in a single plane and are often used to support roofs or
bridges
 Roof Trusses
 They are often used as part of an industrial building frame
 Roof load is transmitted to the truss at the joints by means of a series of
purlins
 To keep the frame rigid & thereby capable of resisting horizontal wind forces,
knee braces are sometimes used at the supporting column
 Bridge Trusses
 The main structural elements of a typical bridge truss are shown in figure.
Here it is seen that a load on the deck is first transmitted to stringers, then
to floor beams, and finally to the joints of the two supporting side trusses.
 The top and bottom cords of these side trusses are connected by top and
bottom lateral bracing, which serves to resist the lateral forces caused by wind
and the sidesway caused by moving vehicles on the bridge.
 Additional stability is provided by the portal and sway bracing. As in the case
of many long-span trusses, a roller is provided at one end of a bridge truss
to allow for thermal expansion.
Assumptions for Design : To design both the members and the
connections of a truss, it is first necessary to determine the force
developed in each member when the truss is subjected to a given
loading. In this regard, two important assumptions will be made in order
to idealize the truss.
 The members are connected by frictionless pins (although joints may
be welded or riveted)
 All loadings are applied at the joints (although self weight is not)
Frequently in the force analysis, the weight of the members is neglected, since the force
supported by the members is large in comparison with their weight. If the weight is to be
included in the analysis, it is generally satisfactory to apply it as a vertical force, half of its
magnitude applied at each end of the member.

 The centroidal axis of members are straight and coincide at joint

center (one point)
Due to these assumptions, each truss member acts as an axial force member
(two force member), and therefore the forces acting at the ends of the
members must be directed along the axis of the member.
• If the force tends to elongate the member  Tensile force (T)
• If the force tends to shorten the member  Compressive force (C)
 Classification of Coplanar Trusses
 Simple , Compound or Complex Truss

 Simple Truss
• To prevent collapse, the framework of a truss must be rigid
• The simplest framework that is rigid or stable is a triangle

a simple truss is constructed by starting with a basic triangular element, such

as ABC in figure above, and connecting two members (AD and BD) to form an
additional element. Thus it is seen that as each additional element of two
members is placed on the truss, the number of joints is increased by one
Note: Simple trusses do not have to consist entirely of triangles
 Compound Truss
• It is formed by connecting 2 or more simple truss together
• Often, this type of truss is used to support loads acting over a larger span as
it is cheaper to construct a lighter compound truss than a heavier simple
truss
• There are three ways in which simple trusses are joined together to
• form a compound truss:
Type 1 : The trusses may be connected by a common joint & bar
Type 2: The trusses may be joined by 3 bars
Type 3: The trusses may be joined where bars of a large simple truss, called the
main truss, have been substituted by simple truss, called secondary trusses
 Complex Truss
A complex truss is one that cannot be classified as being either
simple or compound
Determinacy
 The total number of unknowns includes the forces in b number of bars
of the truss and the total number of external support reactions r.
 Since the truss members are all straight axial force members lying in
the same plane, the force system acting at each joint is coplanar and
concurrent.
 Consequently, rotational or moment equilibrium is automatically satisfied
at the joint (or pin). and it is only necessary to satisfy  Fx  0and  Fy  0
to ensure translational or force equilibrium.
 Therefore, only two equations of equilibrium can be written for each
joint, and if there are j number of joints, the total number of equations
available for solution is 2j

b  r  2 j statically determinate
b  r  2 j statically indeterminate
 The degree of indeterminacy is specified by the difference in the numbers
(b + r ) – 2j
Stability
 If b + r < 2j  a truss will be unstable, that is, it will collapse, since there
will be an insufficient number of bars or reactions to constrain all the joints
 A truss can be unstable if it is statically determinate or statically
indeterminate
 Stability will have to be determined either through inspection or by force
analysis

External Stability: A structure ( or truss) is externally unstable if all of its

reactions are concurrent or parallel
Internal Stability
 The internal stability can be checked by careful inspection of the
arrangement of truss members
 If it can be determined that each joint is held fixed so that it cannot move in
a “rigid body” sense with respect to the other joints, then the truss will be
stable
 A simple truss will always be internally stable
 If a truss is constructed so that it does not hold its joints in a fixed
position, it will be unstable or have a “critical form”
 To determine the internal stability of a compound truss, it is necessary to
identify the way in which the simple truss are connected together
 The truss shown is unstable since the inner simple truss ABC is
connected to the outer simple truss DEF using 3 bars which are
concurrent at point O. Thus an external load can be applied to joint A, B,
or C and cause the truss ABC to rotate slightly
 For complex truss, it may not be possible to tell by inspection if
it is stable
 It can be shown by the analysis that the complex truss in figure below is
unstable or has a “critical form” only if the dimension d=d’. If d≠d’ it is
stable.

 The instability of any form of truss, simple, compound, or complex, may

also be noticed by using a computer to solve the 2j simultaneous
equations for the joints of the truss
 If inconsistent results are obtained, the truss is unstable or have a
critical form
 Summary
 If the truss has b bars, r external reactions, and j joints, then if

b  r < 2 j unstable
b  r 2 j unstable if truss support reactions
are concurrent or parallel or if
some of the components of the
truss form a collapsible mechanism

if a truss is unstable, it does not matter whether it is statically determinate

or indeterminate. Obviously, the use of an unstable truss is to be avoided in
practice.
Example 1: Classify each of the trusses as stable, unstable, statically
determinate or statically indeterminate. The trusses are subjected to
arbitrary external loadings that are assumed to be known & can act anywhere
on the trusses.
Determination of the member forces

 The Method of Joints

 The Method of Sections
The Method of Joints

 If a truss is in equilibrium, then each of its joints must also be in equilibrium.

 The method of joints consists of satisfying the equilibrium equations  Fx  0
and  Fy  0 for the forces exerted on the pin at each joint of the truss
 Applications of equations yields 2 algebraic equations that can be solved
for the 2 unknowns at each joint
 Mostly used when all member forces are required
Procedure ( Joint method)
1. Find the reactions ( if possible)
2. Choose a joint with maximum 2 unknowns ( only 2 members) and at
least one known force
* The line of action of each member force acting on the joint is specified
from the geometry of the truss since the force in a member passes along
the axis of the member
3. Apply equations of equilibrium after removing the joint as a FBD with
all known and unknown forces
** the sense of an unknown member force can be assumed; then, after
applying the equilibrium equations, the assumed sense can be verified
from the numerical results. A positive answer indicates that the sense is
correct, whereas a negative answer indicates that the sense shown on
the free-body diagram must be reversed
4. Once the joint is solved move to another joint
*** x and y axes should be oriented such that the forces on the FBD can
be easily resolved into their x and y components.
Example 2: Determine the force in each member of the roof truss shown.
State whether the members are in tension or compression. The reactions at
the supports are given as shown.
Zero-Force Members

 Truss analysis using method of joints is greatly simplified if one is able to

first determine those members that support no loading
 These zero-force members may be necessary for the stability of the
truss during construction & to provide support if the applied loading
is changed
 The zero-force members of a truss can generally be determined by
inspection of the joints
Case 1: If only two non-collinear members are connected to a joint ( two
member joint regardless of the angle, say θ) that has no external loads or
support reactions applied to it, then the force in both members is zero.

Where 0 < θ < 180

Case 2: If three members (three member joint), two of which are collinear,
are connected to a joint that has no external loads or reactions applied to
it, then the force in the member that is not collinear is zero.

Here F2 = 0
Example3: Using the method of joints, indicate all the members of the
truss that have zero force.
 The Method of Sections

 If the forces in only a few members of a truss are to be found, the method of
sections generally provide the most direct means of obtaining these forces
 This method consists of passing an imaginary section through the truss,
thus cutting it into 2 parts
 Provided the entire truss is in equilibrium, each of the 2 parts must also be
in equilibrium
 The 3 equations of equilibrium may be applied to either one of these 2 parts
to determine the member forces at the “cut section”
 A decision must be made as to how to “cut” or section the truss
 In general, the section should pass through not more than 3 members in
which the forces are unknown
Procedure ( Section method)
1. Find the support reactions
2. Take section passes through the member(s) in which the forces are
required
* Section: part of truss containing at least two joints
3. Use equilibrium equations to find forces ( unknowns) in the members
** Choose the part which has the least number of forces
Example 4: Determine the force in members CF and GC of the roof truss shown.
State whether the members are in tension or compression. The reactions at the
supports have been calculated.
Example 5: Determine the force in member GF and GD of the truss shown. State
whether the members are in tension or compression. The reactions at the
supports have been calculated.
 Compound Trusses
• This type of truss is best analyzed by applying both the method of joints and the
method of sections. It is often convenient to first recognize the type of construction
Procedure for Analysis
Type 1- common joint and bar
1. determine support reactions
2. method of sections: cut through bar connecting simple trusses; obtain bar force
3. method of joints: obtain member forces in simple trusses
Type 2 - three bars
1. determine support reactions
2. method of sections: cut through 3 bars connecting simple trusses; obtain bar forces
3. method of joints: obtain member forces in simple trusses
Type 3- bars of main truss substituted by simple, secondary trusses
1. replace secondary trusses with dashed members
2. method of sections or joints: obtain forces in dashed members
3. method of joints: obtain forces in secondary trusses
Example 6: Specify the type of truss and determine the force in each
member. State if the members are in tension or compression
Example 7: Specify the type of truss and determine the force in each
member. State if the members are in tension or compression
Example 8: Specify the type of truss and determine the force in each
member. State if the members are in tension or compression