TRUSSES

 A structure composed of slender members joint together at their end points. These are used to support
roofs and bridges.

ROOF TRUSS

 Are often used as part of the building frame. The roof load is transmitted to the truss at the joints by
means of a series of purlins. The roof truss along with its supporting columns is termed a bent. The
space between adjacent bents is called bay.

TYPES OF ROOF TRUSSES

BRIDGE TRUSS

For a bridge truss, the load on the deck is first transmitted to the stringers, then to floor beams, and finally to
the joints of the two supporting side trusses. The top and bottom chords of these side trusses are connected
by the top and bottom lateral bracing, which serves to resist the lateral forces caused by wind and the side
sway caused by moving vehicles on the bridge. Additional stability is provided by the portal and sway bracing.
As in the case of many long – span trusses, a roller is provided at one end of a bridge truss to allow thermal
expansion.

TYPES OF BRIDGE TRUSSES

ASSUMPTIONS FOR DESIGN

1. The members are joints together by smooth pins.

2. All loading are applied at the joints.

CLASSIFICATION OF COPLNAR TRUSSES

1. SIMPLE TRUSS
 Structures built from a basic triangle in the manner
Example:
 2. COMPOUND TRUSS
 Formed by connecting two or more simple trusses together
Example:

3. COMPLEX TRUSS
 One that cannot be classified as being either simple or compound.
Example:

DETERMINACY OF TRUSSES

In any truss analysis problem, the numbers of unknowns includes the forces in b members and the number of
external reaction r, making the number of unknown b + r. Since the truss members are all straight force
members lying in the same plane, the force system acting at each joint are coplanar and concurrent, making
the moment at each joint equal to zero. Thus in each joint only two equations (ΣF H = 0 & ΣFV = 0) are eft to
be satisfied. If there is j number of joints, the number of equations that can be made is 2j.

Therefore;

If (b+r) = 2j , the truss is statically determinate

If (b+r) > 2j , the truss is statically indeterminate
Degree of Indeterminacy = (b+r) - 2j
If (b+r) < 2j , the truss is internally unstable
Where:
b – number of members
r – number of external reactions
j - number of joints

External Stability

A truss is externally unstable if all of it reactions are concurrent or parallel.

EXAMPLES:

Classify each of the trusses as stable, unstable, statically determinate, or statically indeterminate. If statically
indeterminate, state the degree of indeterminacy.

1. 2.

3. 4.

ASSIGNMENT:

In your formatted bond paper, classify each of the trusses as stable, unstable, statically determinate, or
statically indeterminate. If statically indeterminate, state the degree of indeterminacy.

1. 2.

3. 4.