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Truss and Frame Analysis

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22 views2 pages

Truss and Frame Analysis

Uploaded by

Gideon Ojo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 4

Truss and Frame Analysis

A truss is a structure composed of rod members arranged to form one or more tri-
angles. The joints are pinned (do not transmit moments) so that the members must
be triangulated. A frame, on the other hand, is a structure that consists of arbi-
trarily oriented beam members which are connected rigidly or by pins at joints. The
members support bending as well as axial loads.
The essential new aspect to the study of these structures is the consideration of
the element stiffness of an arbitrarily oriented member. Since differently oriented
members are to be considered simultaneously, they must have common or global ref-
erence axes. The connection between the global and the local axes is established via
the 3-D rotation matrix. We will first develop the analysis for plane structures as an
intermediate step to introducing the general case of space frames. References [3, 45]
are excellent sources for additional details on modeling 3-D structures.
A fundamental assumption in the following developments is that the principle of
superposition holds. In this way, we can assemble the general frame by combining
the separate actions of the simpler cases developed in this and previous chapters.

4.1 Truss Analysis


The stiffness matrix, as derived in the previous chapters, is with respect to local co-
ordinates, that is, a set of coordinates aligned with the member. Consequently, in a
truss consisting of members with different orientation there are many such local coor-
dinates. The essence of the direct stiffness approach is that the stiffness of the various
members are referred to a common global coordinate system before assemblage. To
that end, we must first obtain the stiffness matrix of an arbitrarily oriented element
referred to the global coordinate system.

Stiffness Matrix for a Truss Element


e
Consider a truss element whose longitudinal axis makes an angle relative to the
global x-axis as shown in Figure 4.1. The stiffness matrix of the truss element, when

66
J. F. Doyle, Static and Dynamic Analysis of Structures
© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1991
4.1 Truss Analysis 67

LOCAL

Figure 4.1: Load and displacement components in local and global coordinates.

referred to the local coordinates x - y, is as given for the rod. That is,

{ :~ } = ELA [ _ ~ ~ 1 ] { ~~ }

The forces and displacements referred to the local coordinates are now denoted by
the barred notation. We wish to give the truss member extra degrees of freedom
that allow it to move in the plane. That is, we want to add the degrees of freedom
VI and V2. The corresponding stiffness relation is obtained by augmenting the above
equation by adding zero forces in the y-direction, and the nodal displacements VI
and V2 in the y-direction at Node 1 and Node 2, respectively. The resulting element
stiffness relation is

or {F} = [ Tc Hu}

The axial forces FI and F2 can be decomposed into global components in the x
and y-direction. At Node 1, for example,

FI +F XI cos () + FyI sin ()


o - F XI sin () + FyI cos ()
A similar set of equations can be written at Node 2. In matrix notation, these four
equations are written as
{F} = [ T HF}
where
sin () o
cos () o
o cos ()
o - sin ()

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