Reflection Questions

When you first designed your truss what was your reasoning behind the design?
1. The reason I made my truss the way it is was because I wanted to hold a lot of weight.
There are three headers on the top and I anticipated that the weigh would go straight
down and hold the load. Then the load would eventually travel to the posts which would
ultimately end up at the bottom of the truss. I believed that having three headers would
make my truss extremely strong but that was not the case. My truss held 68 pounds but I
believe that if it was a little bit more centered the truss would hold more.

When you watched your truss break what were you surprised about? Due to these findings, how
would you alter your existing design?
2. When I saw my truss break I was surprised that it broke on the top. I expected that it
would break somewhere on the sides or on the bottom because my wall for CEA broke at
the bottom. I would change my design to making the third header on top of my truss the
full 5 inches. It is currently 2.5 inches and if it was 5 inches I believe that it would hold a
lot more weight. I would also reduce the size of the truss in order for that to be possible
because I was cutting it close. Currently there is about 3 inches left over so by using all of
it making the third header 5 inches would be possible.





If you had a chance to redesign a new truss what would it look like and why would you design it
this way?
3. If I had a chance to redraw my truss I would probably go with a design similar to System
42. I would design my truss this way because wood is more likely to break when it is laid
horizontally but when it is laid vertically the wood has less deflection. This means that
the truss will hold more weight which is what I am looking for.

In your new truss design show which members you think would withstand the most force?
Explain why you think this.
4. I believe that the members that will hold the most weight will have to be the ones in the
middle of the truss. This would have to be because of the fact that the wood laid
vertically will have less deflection which will make it hold more weight. The way my
original truss is laid out the wood can snap but when it is laid vertically it cannot snap.
This would result in a truss that is capable of holding a 100 pounds or more.