DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR ROOF STEEL TRUSS

INTRODUCTION:
Stee trusses are beng used for both budngs and brdges. But the
desgn prncpes are dherent for dherent uses. Many books are
course orented and not wth a practca prncpes. Now an attempt has
been made to gather nformaton on the desgn prncpes from varous
references ON THE LAYOUT AND OTHER DESIGN PRINCIPLES.
Stee roof trusses are used for many for the Industra budngs where
free space requrement are essenta for more workng areas. The span
of truss vares from 10-0" to 300-0" dependng on the type of
requrement and the avaabe spaces.
The foowng steps shoud be consdered when desgnng a truss:
1. Seect the genera ayout of truss members and truss spacng.
2. Estmate externa oads to be apped ncudng sef weght of
truss, purns and roof coverng together wth wnd oads.
3. Determne crtca (worst combnaton) oadng. It s usua to
consder Dead oads aone and then Dead and Imposed oads
combned.
4. Anayze the frame work to nd forces n a members.
5. Seect matera and secton to produce n each member a stress
vaue whch does not exceed the permssbe vaue. Partcuar
care must be taken wth compresson members (struts) or
members normay n tenson but sub|ect to stress reversa due
to wnd upft.
For span up to about 20.00 m, the spacng of stee trusses s key to
be about 4.00m .e. 1/5 of span.
A sope of 22(degree) s common for corrugated stee and asbestos
roong sheets.
For economc spacng of roof trusses, the cost of truss shoud be equa
to twce the cost of purns +the cost of roof coverng. As a gude the
spacng of the roof trusses can be kept :
a. V of span upto 15.0m.
b. 1/5 of span upto 15m to 30m.
Trusses wth parae chords are often referred to as LATTICE GIRDERS.
1
DIFFERENT SHAPES OF TRUSSES FOR DIFFERENT SPANS .
7.0M TO 11.0m
Belgium truss
<7.0M
2
CONFIGURATIONS:
The ptch of roof truss depends on the roong materas.
a) Mn. recommended for GI sheet-1n 6..e h/=1/6 h=/6
b) For A.C sheet -1 n 12.e h=/12.
Parae chord trusses: The economca span to depth rato =12 to 24.
Trapezoda trusses:
The conguraton shown beow reduces the axa forces n the chord
members ad|acent to supports.
TENSION CHORD
COMPRESSION CHORD COMPRESSION CHORD
TENSION CHORD
N-GIRDER/PRATT
TRUSS
WARREN GIRDER

!"SPAN
#
Economca span to depth rato s around 10. The sope s 1/5. Spacng
of trusses shoud be n the regon of 1/4 to 1/5 of span.
Fan trusses are used when the Rafter members of the roof trusses have
to be subdvded nto ODD number of panes.
Ptch =L/h=4 to 10
h=L/4 to L/10
$

The mass per sq.m of :
a) Fnk trusses s owest for spans from 15m upwards.
b) Pratt trusses from 10 m to 20m.
c) And of Porta frames from 10m to 20m.
The roof sope s normay chosen to 1:16 or 1:10 dependng on type of
roong. A sope ess than 1:16 shoud be used wth cauton snce the
deecton decreases the ncnaton and f the actua roof sope
becomes too sma troube wth water run-oh can gve probems wth
water accumuaton(Pondng). The smaest possbe sope depends on
the sze of the snow oad.
A rough estmate of secton heght for a gabed truss s that for roof
sope 1:16, H=L/25 to L/30.
%
For sope 1:10, H=L/35 to L/40 where H s the depth at support.
For parae trusses the reaton s approxmatey H=L/20.
The most advantageous ange between the dagonas and the bottom
chord s 45-50 n a tranguar attce and 35 -45n a dagona one.

In the practce of desgnng ndustra and resdenta budngs, the
most frequent case s use of support diagonals upwards.
Tranguar trusses are empoyed ony n roofs wth steep ptches.
Loadings:
Fase ceng---------------------------------------------200 N/sq.m
Duct ----------------------------------------------------- 40 N/sq.m
G.I.Sheet-0.63mm thck to 1,6 mm thck-----------55 to 140 N/sq.m
Asbestos sheet -----------------------------------------171 N/sq.m.
Roong tes ---------------------------------------------350 to 850 N/sq.m
Bracngs --------------------------------------------------12-15 N/sq.m
Purns ----------------------------------------------------200 to 400 N/sq.m
Mangaore tes wth battens --------------------------650N/sq.m.
Sl! wig"t o! truss:
Varous Handbooks and text book furnsh dherent formuae for the sef
weght of stee truss. One has to make use of t |udcousy and wth
engneerng |udement.
&
Weded sheeted roof trusses s gven approxmatey as:
A. W =1/100(5.37+0.0534A)Kn/sq.m where A s the pan area n
sq.m.
From the HB for Budng Engneers n Metrc system,
a) Fnk type roof truss(From Ketchums structura engneers HB)
W=0.0222P.A.L(1+0.3622L/vA)n Kg where
P= capacty of truss n Kg/sq.m n horzonta pro|ecton of
roof(150- 400Kg/sq.m)
A= spacng c/c of truss n m.
L= span of truss n m.
b) for stee truss n genera
W= o.4(4.42VL+L) Kg/sq.m of horzonta covered area.
L= span n m.
B. DL of truss=(Span/3+5)*10 N/sq.m
Referng to page 273 of Desgn of Meta Structures by k.Mukhanov-MIR
pubcaton.
The Mnmum weght of truss s approxmatey obtaned when the
weght of the chords equa to that of the attce(ncudng the gusset
pate) whch w be the case wth comparatvey arge truss depth to
span rato.(h/L=1/5).
The weght of standard trusses g n kg/sq.m area covered dependng
up on the desgn oad q(n Kg/sq.m) s:
Span g(Kg/sq.m)
L =18.0m g=2.2+q/125
L =24.0m g=2.78+q/54.2
L =30.0m g=4.44+q/34.7
L =36.0m g=5.27+q/21

Ref:P391Desgn of Meta structures by K.Mukhanov.
Approxmate weghts of eements of stee Industra budng framework
n Kg/sq.m of budng area:
S.# Eement of stee
frame work
Group of shops
Lght Medum Heavy
1. Roof:
Roof trusses 16-25 18-30 20-40
Secondary trusses 0-6 4-7 8-20
Purns 10-12 12-18 12-16
Skyghts 0-10 8-12 8-12
'
Tes 3-4 3-5 8-15
Tota #$%&$ &'%($ '$%)$
2. Coumns wth te &
patforms
10-18 18-40 70-120
Crane grder wth
bracng beams
0-14 14-40 50-150
Wa frame work 0-3 5-14 12-20
Msceaneous - 0-10 3-12
Grand tota #'%)$ ('%*($ +$$%&$$
Ref: Tabe 2A-Reynods handbook on RC Desgn:
Roof Trusses:
Span of trusses
Weghts(apprx) of stee roof trusses.
Lbs/sft or Kg/sq.m
Spacng of truss
10 15 3m 4.5m
Weghts(apprx) of stee roof trusses.
Lbs/sft or Kg/sq.m
250" 7.5m 2 1.5 10 7.5
300" 9.0m 2.5 1.5 11.5 7.5
400" 12.0m 2.75 1.75 14.0 9.0
500" 15.0m 3.0 2.25 15.0 11.0
600" 18.0m 4.25 3.0 21.0 15.0
800" 25.0 5.0 3.5 25.0 17.5
GRA,IT- LOADS:
Gravty oadng about 1kpa(ncudng LL but excudng the sef weght
of purns and roof prncpas) and basc wnd speed 46m/s.
Where the maxmum gravty oadng(DL+LL) exceeds the net upft
oadng(DL+WL) as usua n roofs of budngs, the web compresson
members under gravty oadng attract hgher forces because of ther
sope.
LI,E LOADS:
Roof sope Access oad
10 provded 1500N/sq.m of pan area
10 not provded 750N/sq.m of pan area.
>10 750N/s.m reduced by 10N/sq.m for
every
degree ncrease upto & ncudng
20.
(
Reduced by 20N/sq.m for
each one
degree ncrease above 20.
But not ess than
400N/sq.m.
T" loads on truss .an / ta0n +1# as pr IS .od )('. Ths
reducton s not for the desgn of Purns.

2IND LOADS:
On roof trusses, uness the roof sope s too hgh, woud be usuay
upft force perpendcuar to the roof , due to sucton ehect of the wnd
bowng over the roof. Hence wnd oad on roof truss usuay acts
opposte to the gravty oad and ts magntude can be arger than
gravty oads, causng reversa of forces n truss members. (Ref:
Teachng resources on structura stee desgn-chapter-27).
For budngs up to 10.0m n heght, the ntensty of wnd pressure may
be reduced by 25% for stabty cacuatons and for the desgn of
frame work.
EARTH3UA4E LOADS:
Snce Earthquake oad on a budng depends on the mass of the
budng, earthquake oads usuay does not govern the desgn of LIGHT
INDUSTRIAL STEEL BUILDINGS. Wnd oads usuay govern.(Ref:
Teachng resource on structura Desgn-Chapter 27).
DESIGN PRINCIPLES:
)
The spacng of purns ad|acent to the eaves and the rdge of a roof
may be reduced to gve a more unform moment dstrbuton n the roof
sheets.
For fuy contnuous purn conguratons the arger B.Ms and the truss
oadngs n the end span and at the penutmate trusses can be
reduced by makng the end spans(.e. at the end bays of the
budng)smaer than the nteror.
If the purns are paced at ntermedate ponts .e. between the |onts
of the top chord, the chord w be sub|ected to moments.
RECOMMENDED THICKNESS OF ROOF TRUSS GUSSETS
5a67dsign
!or.s in
support
1diagonals8ton
s9
Upto
20
20-45 45-75 75-115 115-
165
165-
225
225-
300
T"i.0nss o!
gussts%::
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
5E5;ER SI<ES:
Common practce s to specfy a mnmum ange sze 50x50x6mm n
the case of trusses.
Snge ange tenson member havng twstng tendency and produce
eccentrc forces n the |onts. Therefore doube ange cross sectons are
provded.
1*
The wdth of the members shoud be kept mnmum as far as possbe
because wde members have greater secondary sresses.
Two anges back to back or a structura tee form the most common
secton for members of a roof truss. When the oad s ght and the
span s short, a snge ange secton w often sumce and may be used
n spte of ts ack of symmetry. Ths s true for web members to carry
ony nomna stresses
SU;DI,ISION OF THE 5AIN PANELS:
SECONDAR- STRESSES:
Normay the secondary stresses n roof trusses may be dsregarded f
1. the senderness rato of the chord member s greater than 50.
(/r>50)
2. that of the web member s greater than 100.(/r>100).
3.
A the members of the roof truss usuay do not reach ther mt state
of coapse smutaneousy.
The desgn code suggest an ehectve ength factor between 0.7 and
1.0 for the n-pane buckng of member dependng upon ths restrant
and 1.0 for the out of pane buckng. Zn the case of roof trusses, a
member normay UNDER TENSION due to gravty oads(DL+LL) may
experence stress reversa nto compresson due to DL+WL
combnaton.
SLENDERNESS RATIO:
The desgn standard (IS800) mposes restrctons on the
max.senderness rato as gven beow:
S.n
o
Member type Max /r
mt
11
1. Member under COMPRESSION under oads other
than Wnd/EOoad
180
2. TENSION members undergong reversa due to oads
other than WL
180
3. Members normay under TENSION but may have to
resst COMPRESSION under Wnd oad
250
4. Members desgned ony for TENSION even though
they may experence stress reversa
350
5. Members aways under TENSION 400
For smaer or where there s net upft oadng a WARREN truss w be
ghter than PRATT-truss.
Ref: Desgn of Meta Structures by K.Mukhanov.
Sl.tion o! s.tions and t=p o! s.tions:
The top chord f unequa ange secton s chosen then the short eg
shoud pro|ect downwards as shown to have more r
xx.
(outstandng
eg s smer from the pane of the truss)
If each |ont of the top chord s xed n someway by tes or roof
sab(Ly=Lx) equa stabty of the chord s ensured by secton formed of
unequa eg anges nstaed wth ther short egs outstandng from the
pane of the truss.
The remanng compresson dagonas and vertcas between whose
ehectve engths there s nsgncant dherences(Lx=0.8L,Ly=L) are
most frequenty desgned of equa eg anges.
For tenson members the type and arrangements of the anges s not
so mportance snce here the determnng factor s the net sectona
area.
!+"2!,
E-u.l ./gle se0ti1/ is
2re3erre45
12
Other types of sectons than ange are sedom empoyed and ony f
there are specc requrements for desgn. Thus for exampe, chord
made from channes are empoyed when they are sub|ected not ony to
an axa force but aso to a consderabe oca moments orgnated by a
oad apped between pane ponts of the trusses.
The vertcas of trusses are desgned wth a T secton formed of tqo
equa eg anges.
EFFECTI,E LENGTH OF CO5PRESSION ELE5ENTS:
The ehectve ength of a compresson top chord n the pane of truss s
equa to ts geometrca ength(between pane pont centres) Le=L.
For dagonas(except for the support one whch s consdered as a
contnuaton of chord) and vertcas the ehectve ength n the pane of
truss s taken equa to Le=0.8L.
When seectng ange sectons for compresson eements, the tendency
shoud be to use anges of the smaest possbe thckness snce ther
rad of gyraton have the reatvey greatest vaue.
Lmtng senderness rato A for compresson and tenson eements
NAME OF ELEMENT
COMPRES
SION
ELEMENT
S
TENSION ELEMENTS
UNDER
DIRECT
ACTION OF
DYNAMIC
LOADS
STATIC
LOAD
IN BUILDING
WITH HEAVY
SERVICE
CONDITIONS
Chords, support dagonas &
vertcas of trusses, transmttng
support reactons
120 250 400 250
Other truss eements 150 350 400 300
Roong tes(except brace rods) 200 400 400 300
Lecture notes by Dr.L.S.|eyagopa, a eadng structura consutant s
gven beow for further gudence:
1. A truss s a beam whch s bent to the shape of the bendng
moment dagram n opposte drecton.
1
The shape shown s better to take care of the Bendng moment.
H= rse of the truss whch s 1/8 for AC sheet.
2. As suggested earer the top man chord (rafter) s dvded nto
man dvsons whch n turn subdvded to sute the roof coverng
sheets.
3. Nowadays t became obsoete to use the rvets but customary to
make use of wedng as we as hgh tenson bots. There are four
types of bots avaabe. Bot G98 means bot s havng a strength
of 9 Mpa 8 s % of strength used for cacuaton.
4. The structura desgn procedure conssts of si6 prncpa steps.
a. Seecton of type and ayout of structure.
b. Determnaton of oads on the structure.
1$
c. Determnaton of nterna forces and moments n the
structura components.
d. Seecton of matera and proportonng of members and
connectons for safety and economy.
e. Checkng the performance of the structure under servce
condtons, and
f. Fna revew.
5. Fabrcaton: Ease of fabrcaton and erecton has an mportant
nuence on
the economy of the desgn.
In genera, sma and medum trusses of symmetrca desgn are
fted at the rdge durng erecton. In order to prevent buckng of the
bottom chord, t s necessary to proporton t to carry the
compressve stresses deveoped durng hostng. An emprca
reaton s gven by b/L =1/125. where b s the wdth of the bottom
chord at ts centre and L the span ength.
For exampe a 50 m span truss sha have the top chord and bottom
chord wdth =span/125..e. 50x1000/125=400mm. (=8tmes span-
n mm).

Ths s to avod bendng of truss on ether sde durng erecton.
The shape of a truss :
1%
TRUSSED ;EA5S:
FORMULAE FOR TRUSSED BEAMS-REF: Budng engneers hand
book
Used for ong spans and are but up of wooden beams and struts of
stee rods. But the wooden beams may be repaced by stee
sectons.
1&
Es=2.1x106Kg/sq.cm(stee)
Dsign !or:ula7
S.n
o
Descrpton
Snge strut Doube strut
Unformy dstrbuted oad -n Kg
1. Tenson n rod 0.312Wh/r Wh/3r
2. Compresson n strut 0.625W W/3
3. Compresson n beam 0.312WL/2r WL/9r
Concentrated oad over strut,Kg
1. Tenson n rod Ph/2r Ph/r
2. Compresson n strut P P
3. Compresson n beam PL/4r PL/3r
1'