MAE 376 Applied Mathematics for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers

Fall 2012 - Project 1

Assigned: Monday, October 29
Due: Tuesday, November 20

Your team of two MAE 376 students is requested to provide analysis and design
information for a planar truss, shown below, associated with a potential autonomous
lunar experiment. In addition to your analytical analysis you need to write a MATLAB
function which gets specific truss configuration (H, N) and loading information (P, ) as
an input to calculate the axial force in each member of the truss as well as reaction forces
at point A and B.

All joints can be assumed to be pinned. Assume that all members are fabricated from
aluminum (density 2.7 g.cm
-3
) and have the same cross-section (20 cm
2
). Include the
effect of self-weight by distributing one-half of the weight (and corresponding mass) of
each member to its end joints. Ignore the possibility of member buckling.

Notes on your MATLAB function:
Function Name: TrussAnalysis_LastName1_LastName2
Inputs: H (in meter), N, P (in newton), Beta (in radian)
Outputs: F (in newton)
F is a vector with the size of 5N+3. To be consistent use the following notations in your
calculations:

Your code should be able to handle the cases where N<3
Your report should be limited to two pages, single space with 1in margin. It should
address the following items:
a) Show that the structure is statistically undetermined for N>1
b) Suggest a solution for solving the system when N=2 and 3 and apply it for N=2
c) Identify the truss member with the highest axial force at the following cases:
N=1, P=10KN, H=50cm and = /6
N=1, P=10KN, H=50cm and =
N=1, P=10KN, H=50cm and = -/6
N=2, P=10KN, H=50cm and = /6
N=2, P=10KN, H=50cm and =
N=2, P=10KN, H=50cm and = -/6
d) What can you predict about the following cases :
N=3, P=10KN, H=50cm and = /6
N=3, P=10KN, H=50cm and = 0
N=3, P=10KN, H=50cm and = -/6
e) Does the result in part c depend on the value of H? Explain.