5.

2 Method of Joints
The method of joints is a form of particle analysis. After solving for the reaction
forces, you solve for the unknown forces at each joint until you have found the
value of each member. You start with your model:

Convert the constraints into reaction forces with the appropriate labels:

Now solve for the reaction forces (Rax Ray Re) looking only at the external forces
using the equilibrium equations for a rigid body:
∑Fx=0∑Fy=0∑M=0∑𝐹𝑥=0∑𝐹𝑦=0∑𝑀=0
Assuming the length of each member is L:
∑Fx=Rax=0,Rax=0–––––––––∑𝐹𝑥=𝑅𝑎𝑥=0,𝑅𝑎𝑥=0_
 ∑Fy=Ray+Re–Fg–Ff=0,Ray+Re=150lb∑𝐹𝑦=𝑅𝑎𝑦+𝑅𝑒–𝐹𝑔–
𝐹𝑓=0,𝑅𝑎𝑦+𝑅𝑒=150𝑙𝑏

∑Ma=−L∗Fg–2L∗Ff+3L∗Re=0Re=100L+100L3LRe=66.7lb–––––––––––––
∑𝑀𝑎=−𝐿∗𝐹𝑔–2𝐿∗𝐹𝑓+3𝐿∗𝑅𝑒=0𝑅𝑒=100𝐿+100𝐿3𝐿𝑅𝑒=66.7𝑙𝑏_

Ray=150lb–66.7lbRay=83.3lb––––––––––––––𝑅𝑎𝑦=150𝑙𝑏–
66.7𝑙𝑏𝑅𝑎𝑦=83.3𝑙𝑏_

Next, pick a joint where there are 2 or fewer unknown values such as a or e. This is
because you only have 2 equations available to find the
unknowns: ∑Fx=0, ∑Fy=0∑𝐹𝑥=0, ∑𝐹𝑦=0. The following table shows the
number of known and unknown forces at each joint.

Joint: a b c d e f g

Known
2 0 0 0 1 1 1
forces:

Unknown
2 3 4 3 2 4 4
forces:

Choosing joint a (or e), do a particle analysis, assuming all of the members are in
tension. That way, if the force is negative, that means it is in compression. Notice
Rax has been excluded because it is equal to zero.
 ∑Fy=0Ray+Fabsin(60∘)=0Fab=−Raysin(60∘=−83.7 lb0.866Fab=–
96.2 lb–––––––––––––––
(compression)∑𝐹𝑦=0𝑅𝑎𝑦+𝐹𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑖𝑛(60∘)=0𝐹𝑎𝑏=−𝑅𝑎𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑛(60∘=−83.7 l
b0.866𝐹𝑎𝑏=–96.2 lb_(compression)

∑Fx=0Fag+Fabcos(60∘)=0Fag=−Fabcos(60∘)=–
(−96.2 lb)∗(0.5)Fag=+48.1 lb––––––––––––––––
(tension)∑𝐹𝑥=0𝐹𝑎𝑔+𝐹𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑜𝑠(60∘)=0𝐹𝑎𝑔=−𝐹𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑜𝑠(60∘)=–
(−96.2 lb)∗(0.5)𝐹𝑎𝑔=+48.1 lb_(tension)
Next move to joint b because you now only have 2 unknowns now at joint b
(Fbc and Fbg).

Keep analysing joints until you’ve calculated the load in all members:

Member ab bc cd de ef fg ag bg cg cf df

Force (lb) 96.2 96.2 77.0 77.0 38.5 86.6 48.1 96.2 19.3 19.3 77.0

Tension
C C C C T T T T T C T
or Compression
 And that’s it! If you don’t specify compression or tension, you should use positive
and negative to denote tension and compression, respectively.

Here is a second explanation on how to solve using method of joints:

The method of joints is a process used to solve for the unknown forces acting on
members of a truss. The method centers on the joints or connection points between
the members, and it is usually the fastest and easiest way to solve for all the
unknown forces in a truss structure.

Using This Method:

The process used in the method of joints is outlined below:

1. In the beginning it is usually useful to label the members and the joints in your
truss. This will help you keep everything organized and consistent in later
analysis. In this book, the members will be labeled with letters and the joints will
be labeled with numbers.

2. Treating the entire truss structure as a rigid body, draw a free body diagram,
write out the equilibrium equations, and solve for the external reacting forces
acting on the truss structure. This analysis should not differ from the analysis of a
 single rigid body.

3. Assume there is a pin or some other small amount of material at each of the
connection points between the members. Next you will draw a free body diagram
for each connection point. Remember to include:
o Any external reaction or load forces that may be acting at that joint.
o A normal force for each two force member connected to that joint. Remember
that for a two force member, the force will be acting along the line between the
two connection points on the member. We will also need to guess if it will be a
tensile or a compressive force. An incorrect guess now though will simply lead
to a negative solution later on. A common strategy then is to assume all forces
are tensile, then later in the solution any positive forces will be tensile forces
and any negative forces will be compressive forces.
 o Label each force in the diagram. Include any known magnitudes and directions
and provide variable names for each unknown.

4. Write out the equilibrium equations for each of the joints. You should treat the
joints as particles, so there will be force equations but no moment equations. This
should give you a large number of equations.
o The sum of the forces in the x direction will be zero and the sum of the forces
in the y direction will be zero for each of the
joints.∑→F=0∑Fx=0∑Fy=0∑𝐹→=0∑𝐹𝑥=0∑𝐹𝑦=0
5. Finally, solve the equilibrium equations for the unknowns. You can do this
algebraically, solving for one variable at a time, or you can use matrix equations
to solve for everything at once. If you assumed that all forces were tensile earlier,
remember that negative answers indicate compressive forces in the members.

Source: Engineering Mechanics, Jacob Moore, et

al. http://mechanicsmap.psu.edu/websites/5_structures/5-
4_method_of_joints/methodofjoints.html

Additional examples from the Engineering Mechanics webpage:

Example 1:
Find the force acting in each of the members in the truss bridge shown below.
Remember to specify if each member is in tension or compression.
Solution:
Source: Engineering Mechanics, Jacob Moore, et
al. http://mechanicsmap.psu.edu/websites/5_structures/5-
4_method_of_joints/pdf/MethodOfJoints_WorkedExample1.pdf

Example 2:
Find the force acting in each of the members of the truss shown below. Remember
to specify if each member is in tension or compression.

Solution here.

In summary: