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STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF SELECTING A PLANE STEEL TRUSS

Omotoriogun Victor Femi
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Summary

This article is a brief explanation of the various structural forms of plane trusses, their structural
behaviour under loads. Why and where the alternative forms might be appropriate with slight
emphasis on design considerations.

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1.0 Introduction

A truss is a triangulated assembly of interconnected elements, pinned at the nodes and typically
having all external forces and reactions applied at the nodes (Figure 1). Trusses are extremely strong
and a very cost-effective solution when compared to other structural options. They are particularly
well suited and useful when dealing with long span structures such as airports, railway terminals,
sport arena roofs, auditoriums and similar structures. When compared with their H and I beam
counterparts, they have the advantage of being able to support a considerable number of loads with
increase in span. In addition to these, they are generally lightweight and stiffer than plane members
hence, their final deflection is considerably less.

Figure 1: Geometry of a Simple Truss

The only major drawback with the use of trusses is the high cost of fabrication relative to other viable
structural options. However, in spite of this, the cost benefit often always outweighs those of other
options.

There are essentially two types of trusses: viz a viz, plane truss and space truss. When a truss has all
of its members in the same plane, it is regarded as a plane or 2D truss otherwise it's a space or 3D
truss. In this article, we're concerned with plane steel trusses. This article is an attempt to describe
the alternative forms of steel trusses available. Why and where the alternative forms might be
appropriate with slight emphasis on the design considerations.

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2.0 Structural Forms of Planar Trusses

Steel trusses comprise elements which when subjected to external forces at the nodes only are
required to resist a combination of axial compression and tension. Of course, except when the nodes
are stiff or when loads are applied on members other than nodes for which secondary bending will
be induced.

A wide range of steel truss forms are available each having a distinct structural behaviour under
loads. The choice of selection would depend on a lot of considerations, varying between geometry,
functionality, aesthetics, structural behaviour, safety, buildability and economy. To the structural
engineer, the last four considerations are the most significant.

These are some of the commonly used truss forms:

Pratt Truss

The Pratt truss (Figure 2) is named after its inventors Thomas & Caleb Pratt who first used it on a
trussed bridge in the 19th Century. A pratt truss can span from anywhere between 20m to 100m.
They're essentially useful and more advantageous where a truss will be largely subjected to gravity
loads. This is because, under gravity loads, the diagonal elements would be in tension while the
verticals are in compression. Hence, an efficient design is created, due to the significant savings in
material that would otherwise have ensued in the diagonals which are palpably longer, should they
be in compression.

Figure 2: The Pratt Truss

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Pratt trusses are very cost-effective as the material savings not only reduces the self-weight of the
whole structure but as well ease fabrication. The only problem with a pratt truss is that when the
loads are not predominantly gravitational, there would be a stress reversal, stripping the truss off all
the aforementioned benefits.

Howe Truss

The Howe truss is also named after its inventor William Howe who first used it on the truss bridge
in 1840. A howe truss is the direct opposite of the pratt truss (Figure 3). If a pratt truss is an N truss
then, a howe is a reversed N. The entire truss is basically the same but the diagonal bracing is now
occupying the opposite joints. This switch in position plays an important effect structurally. Because
it also means that the forces in the diagonal and vertical bracings are also reversed. The verticals are
in tension while the diagonals are in compression under gravity loading.

Figure 3: The Howe Truss

However, when a howe is subjected to wind uplift as seen in many open buildings and hanger
systems, their structural behaviour is perfectly the same as a Pratt. The diagonals would be in tension
while its verticals are in compression. Hence all benefits present in the pratt are also available to the
howe. The designer needs to use his discretion to consider carefully the predominant loading in order
to select the best of either a pratt or howe. If gravity load is predominant, a pratt is better. But if wind
uplift is the predominant load, then the howe is better.

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Warren Truss

The Warren truss is also known as “Warren girder" is another form of Planar Truss. They are
recognised easily by their lack of vertical members and their formation of equal length of diagonal
members alternating in compression and tension and forming equilateral triangles (Figure 3). A
Warren truss has fewer members than a pratt and howe and is basically more suitable for larger
spans. They are also more suitable for uniformly distributed loads due to their ability to evenly
distribute the load across a wider range of members.

Figure 4: The Warren Truss

However, a Warren truss will not do well under a point action applied at the nodes as they're unable
to properly distribute the loads. Hence their source of strength under one particular loading pattern
is their source of weakness under a different loading pattern. Generally, the Warren truss is easily
fabricated compared to the pratt and howe since they have fewer members.

Modified Pratt or ‘K’ Truss

The K truss is a slightly more complicated version of the pratt and howe as shown in Figure 5. In a
K truss, the vertical members as well as the diagonals have been shortened. The motivation for this
comes from the perspective of steel design which aims to reduce buckling by effectively reducing
the buckling length of compression members.

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Figure 5: The Modified Pratt or ' K' Truss

The K truss has similar pros and cons to the pratt and howe. It's essentially stronger and could
possibly lead to a reduction in steel quantity if designed properly. However, this seldom is the case
as the elements behaviour cannot be predicted. An element could be in tension under one load
combination and then in compression under a different load combination. This often leads to a
difficulty in producing a very efficient design. The K truss obviously has more elements, hence
would be more expensive to fabricate.

Fink Truss

The fink truss is shown in Figure 6. It is the most basic truss form and is essentially used for short
span trusses not more than 15m. In its basic form it consists of web members following a V pattern
which is repeated several times and get smaller as we go down the slope.

The fink truss is basically used to construct roofs. They rely on the strength of the diagonal members
alternating in compression and tension to transmit the forces to the supports.

Derivative of the fink truss includes, the fan fink and double fink truss forms. The Double Fink
trusses are essentially Fink trusses that repeat the pattern twice on either side. If the most basic Fink
truss can be characterized by a double-V, then a double fink would look like a double-W.

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Figure 6: The Fink Trusses

Fan trusses are essentially Fink trusses that have its web members ‘fan out’ from the joints at the
bottom, usually the addition of vertical members.

Vierendeel Truss

The Vierendeel Truss is also sometimes called a girder just like the Warren truss. But in contrast to
a Warren truss, they're characterised by having only vertical elements and no diagonals. They are
statically indeterminate and in addition to resisting axial forces are subjected to bending and shear
due to their geometry and having rigidly connected joints.

Figure 7: The Vierendeel Truss

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Vierendeel trusses are usually more expensive to construct due to the section size often required to
sustain loads and as a result their use is restrained only to instances where diagonal elements are
obtrusive or undesirable.

3.0 General Aspects of Modelling

Having selected any of the truss forms described above, there are some additional considerations to
make. The overall depth of a truss should be chosen to satisfy serviceability limit state of deflection.
This can be ensured by pre-sizing the truss on the basis of span- depth ratio. Although architectural
requirements often have a way of dictating what the external geometry and slope would be. However,
the internal geometry is completely within the remit of the truss designer, hence when pre-sizing a
truss, a span: depth value of between 10-15 is generally acceptable to keep the deflection of the truss
in check, and thus should be used.

In addition to your ability to choose a good truss form, for efficiency the following extra
consideration should be made.

• The inclination of the diagonal members in the truss relative to the chords should be within
the range of 35° - 55°.
• Point loads should as much as possible be applied only at the nodes, except under stringent
conditions.
• The orientation of the truss elements should be such that the longer elements are dominantly
in tension and the shorter elements in compression. This is in fact, the basis of selecting a
truss form

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