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ETABS 2016 Tutorial: Trusses: Example
ETABS 2016 Tutorial: Trusses: Example
Below is a tutorial that was organized for educational purposes at Christian Brothers University
only. The procedure of analysis in ETABS 2016 is similar to that of ETABS v9.
Example
Determine the member forces for the Pratt truss shown below. All members are made from the
Solution
Settings”. Note that for our problem, we have SI (Metric) units. This option is found under
“Display Units”.
Step Four: Specify a grid spacing and story height (based on your problem). Note that the Z-
coordinate defines the gravity direction. This is specified by the “Story Dimensions”. Working
in the xz plane, we will specify 7 grid lines in the x-direction, with a spacing of 3 m and 4 stories,
You may work in either the 2D or 3D window. Let us work in the 2D window for this example.
In the 2D window, change the view to elevation 1. This will take us to the xz elevation view.
Step Five: Define material properties.
Modify the material properties by making the mass and weight per unit volume zero (since this is
a truss example, we will assume the material weight is zero so as to not induce unwanted shears
For this example, we are given that all members have the same cross-section properties. Because
of this, we can select any section, so long as we apply it to all members. To illustrate adding a
new section, let us select a circular steel rod and use this for all of our members. To do this, first
select “General” under the “Special” set of selections. Let us use the default diameter of 25 mm.
Note that we can define as many new sections as we need for a given problem. We will name
this “1A”.
Step Seven: Now we shall draw our members.
First, draw the bottom truss chord (as one continuous member). Make sure you select the
“frame” section “1A” that you defined earlier. This is selected in the “Properties of Object” tab.
Next, divide the bottom chord it into three equal segments. To do this, select the member, click
“Edit”, “Edit Frames”, then “Divide Frames”. For this problem, divide the bottom cord into 6
frame objects.
Notice that ETABS automatically placed external pin connections at the two new joints. We
Select the five interior points we want to change and click the “Assign” button. Change the joint
If you click on the check mark button, you can turn off the invisibility option and see the joints.
Draw the other truss members. Remember to use the “frame” section you defined earlier.
Note that for this example, we have a roller at the right support. Change the existing pin to a
roller by selecting “Assign”, then “Joint”, then “Restraints”. Now, since this is a truss, we must
release all of the internal moments since trusses do not support internal moments. The default
for ETABS is a frame. That is, when you draw a structure in ETABS, it automatically assumes a
frame structure. In order to release the moments and analyze this as a truss, first select all of the
members. Then, under the “Assign” menu, select “Frame” and “Releases/Partial Fixity”. Select
Moment 22, Moment 33 and Torsion and set all selections to zero. (ETABS will only allow one
Under the “Assign” menu, select “Joint Loads” and “Force”. For now, we will only consider one
Step Nine: Now we run our model by selecting the “play” button. The model will then show