ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY

Department of Architecture

Truss System
Sub to RAJENDRA KUNWAR
Yirgalem teggegn
What Is a Truss System?

In architecture or structural engineering, a truss system is an arrangement of wooden or steel

support beams configured in a triangular shape. Typically, the horizontal ends are connected to other
trusses in the system. Truss systems are frequently used in the construction of buildings, bridges and
utility towers. They also are commonly used in stage design and displays.

One of the advantages of the truss system is its simplicity. The triangle bears loads only at its joints, or
nodes. A triangular structure is stable and needs no extra support to prevent collapse, as a rectangle
would. Force calculations are easy because only compression and tension forces are present. This
limits the number and direction of forces that must be accounted for when determining forces in a truss
member.
Now a days Trusses are every where for example:- Buildings, Bridges, Tele tower, Crain , Parts of international
space station. They allow us to create strong structures by using materials in efficient and cost effective way.
The use of truss systems in construction remained popular even after other, stronger materials
became available. Truss systems are easy to construct because they consist of few pieces. They tend
to be lightweight and very inexpensive because only beams and joints are needed.

Truss systems can span large distances and dissipate forces throughout the structure with load-
bearing only at the ends. This can be very convenient in residential and commercial building
construction because non-load-bearing walls can be placed at intervals between two ends of the
truss system. This allows flexibility in spacing walls and allows for easy removal of them if
necessary.

Many variations on the truss system are available to counter some of the disadvantages and make
the system capable of handling differing load requirements. In the case of utility towers, a three-
dimensional truss system might be used to make the structure vertically stable and capable of
withstanding high winds without toppling. Another example of a variation on the truss system is the
use of a cantilevered truss in bridge construction to make long spans of truss systems possible.
Truss, in engineering, a structural member usually fabricated from straight pieces of metal or timber to
form a series of triangles lying in a single plane. (A triangle cannot be distorted by stress.)

A truss gives a stable form capable of supporting considerable external load over a large span with
the component parts stressed primarily in axial tension or compression. The individual pieces
intersect at truss joints, or panel points. The connected pieces forming the top and bottom of the
truss are referred to respectively as the top and bottom chords. The sloping and vertical pieces
connecting the chords are collectively referred to as the web of the truss.
Trusses are simply defined as triangulation of members to make the stabilized structure. Triangulation is
the stable configuration mathematically. Generally, a truss has the members called as top chord, bottom
chord, vertical chord and diagonal chord(web of the truss). The main functions of the trusses are

1. Carrying the loads from the over structures

2. Providing adequate lateral stability to the entire structure
There are some basic assumptions in the designing process. It should be clarified that the construction
of the trusses should conform with the design assumptions to avoid the unwanted failures due to the
dispersion of the forces and loads. Following are the assumptions in truss design.

1. Truss members will carry only the axial forces

2. The nodes i.e. the connections of the members are designed as
pinned joints so that moments won’t be transferred to the
members of the truss
3. All the external loads and the reactions are act only on the
nodes
4. Generally, the truss should be in a plane.
Typically the members of the trusses are made as I sections, angles, T sections, Tube sections, Square
sections and channel sections. I sections are more preferable as a optimized section in terms of the
structural forces.
There are two important assumptions we need to be
able to make for a structure to be considered as a
truss:-

The joints in the structure can be represented by a pin

connections. The members are free to rotates at the
joints. The members of a truss are often abridgedly
connected using what is known as gusset plate.

The second assumption we need to be able to make is

that loads are only apply at the joints of truss. For
example, we never have loads acting in the middle of
the member. because all joints are pined the member is
can not carry bending moment. They can only carry
axial loads. This simplifies the analysis of truss
significantly. Each member have to be in equilibrium
so the force is acting equal and opposite direction.
Each member is either in tension or compression.

This assumptions differentiate truss from a frame

Types of trusses

Simple truss – indicates a single triangular truss. These trusses are most often used as the roof
trusses.

Planar truss – as the name implies it is a two dimensional truss. If all the members and the nodes
are in a planar surface, then this truss is a planar truss.

Space frame truss – Contrast to planar truss, the members and the nodes are located in the three
dimensional space. Electrical and telecom towers are the one of the simplest example that we are
seeing in the day to day life.
 FORMS OF TRUSSES

1. Pratt truss 4. Vierendeel truss

Pratt truss form for the loads in gravity direction

King post truss, Bowstring truss, Queen post truss,
Flat truss, Lenticular truss are some other forms of
trusses in the use of the industry.
Pratt truss form for the uplift loads(loads
opposite to gravity)
2. Warren truss

3. North light truss

LOADS

The loads on trusses would depend upon the application for which the trusses are used. The loads may be
static, as in the case of buildings, or dynamic, as in the case of bridges.

Multi - Storey Buildings

The lateral load due to wind or earthquake may be resisted by vertical bracings acting as trusses. These
bracings, properly designed, make these buildings very stiff in resisting lateral loads. Hence they are
economical in the buildings of intermediate height ranges. In the case of earthquake loading, stiff
buildings may attract larger inertia force and hence use of bracings may not be desirable.

Bridge Trusses

Trusses are used in bridges to transfer the

gravity load of moving vehicles to
supporting piers. Depending upon the site
conditions and the span length of the bridge,
the truss may be either through type or
deck type. In the through type, the carriage
way is supported at the bottom chord of
trusses.
TRUSS MEMBERS

The members of trusses are made of either rolled steel sections or built-up sections depending upon the span
length, intensity of loading, etc. Rolled steel angles, tee sections, hollow circular and rectangular structural
tubes are used in the case of roof trusses in industrial buildings. In long span roof trusses and short span bridges
heavier rolled steel sections, such as channels, I sections are used. Members built-up using I sections, channels,
angles and plates are used in the case of long span bridge trusses
Types of connections

For all the types of member sections, it is possible to design the structure with bolted, welded or pin
connections. Generally in steelwork construction, bolted site splices are preferred to welded splices for
economy and speed of erection. Where bolted connections are used, it is necessary to evaluate the consequences
of 'slack' in connections. In order to reduce these consequences (typically, the increase of the deflections), pre-
loaded assemblies to produce non-slip joints are recommended.

Hollow sections are typically connected by welding whilst open sections are connected by bolting or welding,
which will usually involve the use of gusset plates.

Small trusses which can be transported whole from the fabrication factory to the site, can be entirely welded. In
the case of large roof trusses which cannot be transported whole, welded sub-assemblies are delivered to site
and are either bolted or welded together on site.
Truss Materials

several materials that are often used are steel

It is widely acknowledged that steel structures
structures, aluminum structures, and wood
inherently offer superior performance in earthquakes
structures. The wooden truss is the most traditional
compared to masonry or reinforced concrete.
structure, with poor fire resistance, high cost, and is not
lightweight. The use of wooden trusses is now common
Advantages of steel structures
in the restoration of ancient buildings and the load-
bearing and decorative effects of antique buildings
The main advantages of steel are:
Aluminum truss one of widely used in the modern - stiffness, ductility and resistance
construction industry because of its many advantages - prefabrication and speed of construction
and is ideal for modern buildings, allowing for quick - flexibility
and easy basic construction and installation. The unique - sustainability (reusability & indefinitely
advantages of the truss in mechanics also helped the recyclable)
workers to widely agree with the square tube truss - Light weight and high strength.
structure in the actual design.
TRUSSES IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
Every building consists of the load-bearing structure and the non-load-bearing portion. The
main load bearing structure, in turn, is subdivided into:

Gravity structure
consisting of floor/roof framing, slabs, trusses, columns, walls,
foundations

Lateral force-resisting structure

consisting of walls, frames, trusses, diaphragms, foundations
Support structures, in general, may be classified as
Horizontal-span structure systems:
floor and roof structure
enclosure structures
Vertical building structure systems:
walls, frames cores, etc.
tall buildings
TRUSSES IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

A multistory building higher than 21m or 21 to 29 floor buildings with unknown height described as high-rise
structure. Various structural systems are available to be used in the construction of high rise building. Some of
the structural systems and floor system are done with truss system or with the integration of truss member.
Here are some of examples :-

Braced frame structural system

Space truss system
The outrigger and belt truss structural system
Staggered truss system
Composite trusses
Suspended structure
BRACED FRAME STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

Braced frames are cantilevered vertical trusses resisting laterals loads primarily diagonal members
that together with the girders, form the “web” of the vertical truss, with the columns acting as the
“chords’’. Bracing members eliminate bending in beams and columns.

 It is used in steel construction

 This system is suitable for multistory building in
the low to mid height range.
 efficient and economical for enhancing the
lateral stiffness and resistance of rigid frame
system.
 This system permits the use of slender members
in a building.
There are two types of braced frame systems,
concentric braced frames (CDF) or
eccentric braced frames (EDF).

In the concentric braced frames, many of

the member intersect in a common point.
Concentric braced frames are very strong
and stiff, resist lateral loads through a
vertical concentric truss system. due to their
poor inelastic behavior, which does not make
them ideal in seismic zones. In seismic
zones it is better to use the eccentric
braced frames, since this bracing type
combines the strength and stiffness of a
braced frame with the inelastic energy
dissipation characteristics of a moment
resisting frame. Concentric Braced Frames Eccentric Braced Frames
Braced Frame Structural System

 An outstanding advantage of braced

frame is that, it can be repetitive up
the height of the building with
obvious economy in design and
fabrication.

 However, it might obstruct internal

planning and the location of doors
and windows. That is why it shall be
incorporated internally along with
lines of walls and partitions.
Hancock Tower is tapered tube truss system.

It uses the principles of mega structures. The cellular structure

has increased overall dimensions by using a hollow open center
framed tube at the periphery. It is an example of transfer
all gravity loads to the exterior frame to avoid overturning
effects.
SPACE TRUSS SYSTEM

 Space truss structures are modified braced tubes with

diagonal connecting the exterior to interior.

 In space trusses, diagonal penetrate the interior of the

building whereas in a typical braced tube structure, all
the diagonals parallel to the facades only on exterior.

 Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial forces in the

space truss member

 May obstruct the view.

Bank of China Hong Kong
72 stories, 367 m
THE OUTRIGGER AND BELT TRUSS STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

Outrigger are rigid horizontal structures designed to Multi - level outrigger systems can provide up to five
improve building overturning stiffness and times the moment resistance of a single outrigger
strength by connecting the core or spine to system.
closely spaced outer columns.
Practically, Outrigger systems used for buildings up to
The central core contains shear walls or braced 70 stories. Nonetheless, it can be used for higher
frames. buildings.
Outrigger systems functions by tying together two
structural systems (core system and a perimeter
system), and render the building to behave nearly
as composite cantilever.

The outriggers are in form of walls in reinforced

concrete building and trusses in steel structures.
The outrigger and belt truss system is commonly used
as one of the structural system to effectively control
the excessive drift due to lateral load, so that, during
small or medium lateral load due to either wind or
earthquake load, the risk of structural and non-
structural damage can be minimized. For high-rise
buildings, particularly in seismic active zone or wind
load dominant, this system can be chosen as an
appropriate structure.

It is one of the lateral load resisting system in

which the external columns are tied to the central
core wall with very stiff outriggers and belt truss at
one or more levels (floors).

Belt walls consist of walls or trusses placed on the

perimeter of the outrigger floor.

Illustration of an outrigger system

 Shanghai Tower, “ 上海中心” ,.
Shanghai Towe is one of the famous
structures that has incorporated the
conventional outrigger system at eight
different building levels.

Shanghai Tower has 128 stories above the

ground, and 5 stories under the ground, the
architectural height and the total height are all
632 meters, the structural height is 580 meters,
the highest accessible point is at 587 meters.

the structural height of Shanghai Tower is not

the tallest in China, the uppermost part of the
tower is comprised of parapet, a structure that
cannot provides any floors, the roof of the
tower is actually at 587 meters.
 Shanghai World Financial Center

The tower has 101 floors, and 492 meters or 1614 foot tall, Shanghai
World Financial Center was once the tallest flat top building of the
world. As of 2016, among the built or topped out skyscrapers
exclusive of telecom towers,

The Mega-Structure concept is To resist the forces from typhoon

(hurricane) winds and earthquakes, three parallel and interacting
structural systems were introduced:

• The mega-structure, consisting of the major structural

columns, the diagonals, and the belt trusses.
• The concrete shear walls of the services core.
• As created by the outrigger trusses, the interaction
between these concrete walls and the mega-columns.
 HSBC Building (Hong Kong)

The first HSBC (then known as the Hong Kong and Shanghai
Banking Company Limited) building was Wardley House,
used as an HSBC office between 1865 and 1882 on the
present site.

The building is 180 meters high with 47 story's and four basement
levels. The building has a modular design consisting of five steel
modules prefabricated in the UK. About 30,000 tons of steel and
4,500 tons of aluminum were used
The main characteristic of HSBC Hong Kong headquarters is its
absence of internal supporting structure.
Another notable feature is that natural sunlight is the major source of
lighting inside the building.
There is a bank of giant mirrors at the top of the atrium, which can
reflect natural sunlight into the atrium and hence down into the
plaza. Through the use of natural sunlight, this design helps to
conserve energy.
All flooring is made from lightweight movable panels,
under which lies a comprehensive network of power,
telecommunication, and air-conditioning systems. This
design was to allow equipment such as computer
terminals to be installed quickly and easily.

Because of the urgency to finish the project, the

construction of the building relied heavily on off-site
prefabrication; components were manufactured all
over the world. For example, the structural steel came
from Britain; the glass, aluminum cladding and
flooring came from the United States while the service
modules came from Japan
Features of outrigger and truss system
The outrigger and truss system can be construct in three ways of connection of the truss in outrigger and belt
truss to increase the stiffness and resistance of lateral load.
1. Rigid out trigger system
2. Flexible out trigger system
3. Adjustable outrigger system
STAGGERED TRUSS SYSTEM

Another type of truss system is the staggered truss system. This

bracing system was developed for residential buildings that are
fairly long and narrow. Normally the system can be used for
heights up to 25 stories.

In this system, trusses that are one floor high are placed in an
alternating pattern on each floor, the floor transfers the lateral
loads to the trusses which means that the columns does not
receive any bending action. Since the truss system should not
block the passage through the building, some diagonal members
of the truss must be removed.

This is normally done in the center of the building. Since the

diagonals are removed the shear is instead carried by a stiff
moment frame, which is added around the opening in the truss
system. Openings in the truss system should be avoided since it
is expensive to implement.
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 2008, Kazuyo
Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, Mutsuro Sasaki Struct.
Engineer
SUSPENDED STRUCTURE

Suspended structure consists of a central core,

or cores, which horizontal cantilevers at roof
levels. To which vertical hangers of steel
cable, rod, or plate are attached. The floor
slabs are suspended from the hangers.
The advantages of this structural form are
primary architectural in that, except for the
presence of central core, the ground story can
be entirely free of major vertical members.
Also, the hangers, because they are in
tensioned and consequently can be high
strength steel, have minimum size section and
are therefore less obstructive.

Burj al Arab, Dubai

 Jongno Tower (Hangeul: 종로 타워

Jongno Tower (Hangeul: 종 로 타 워 ) is a 33-story office

building in Jongno, Seoul. Its top floor is equipped with a
restaurant and bar which is famous for its view of Jongno and
other areas of Seoul.
The tower is located near Jonggak Station of Seoul Subway
Line 1. The 23rd to 30th floors are hollow. It was designed by
Rafael Viñoly Architects, and built in 1999. Its height is 132
meters.

There is an open space between the 23rd to 30th floors, with

access through shafts on either side leading to the top floor
restaurant. It is 55,750 sq. meters total area

A cantilevered steel-frame cornice was added at the top of the

original elliptical building, sheltering an open public plaza. A
separate volume was added above the new cornice for the
Samsung Corporation’s administrative offices. The addition’s
flat façade distinguishes it from the curved façade of the original
structure.
COMPOSITE TRUSSES

Since Trusses members experience essentially axial forces and hence the materials are fully utilized. Steel as
a structural material is equally strong both in tension and compression and hence steel trusses are more
efficient. They tend to be economical to support loads over larger span lengths. However, the members in
the compression chord of the simply supported steel truss (top chord) may prematurely buckle before the
stresses reach the material strength. In this context the concrete slab acting in composite with the truss
compression chord becomes useful.
A reinforced concrete or composite deck floor is required in any case in building and other structures to
provide a flat surface. Using it as a part of the compression member in truss system could be an economical
proposition. Concrete has a lower strength compared with steel and hence requires larger cross section to
sustain a given compression.
space truss
A space truss or space frame structure utilizes a
three-dimensional truss to resist lateral forces.
Unlike a normal truss, in which horizontal,
vertical, and diagonal members work together
on a single plane, a space truss uses diagonal
connections which branch outside of the plane. A
space truss usually looks like several interlocking
pyramidal outlines.
Space trusses, because of their shape, arrangement
of members, or applied loading, cannot be
subdivided into plane trusses for the purposes of
analysis and must, therefore, be analyzed as three-
dimensional structures subjected to three-
dimensional force systems.
Old Federal Reserve Bank Building,
Minneapolis, 1973, Gunnar Birkerts, 273-ft (83 m)
span truss at top
The tower has a space for event organizations, composed by a
reception room and an observation desk set 560 meters above
sea level.

The tower has a hollow slip-formed, reinforced concrete main

shaft of only 4.5 m diameter, which reduces to a mere 3 m to
hold a radio mast which telescopes from 2.7 m to 0.7 m. The
thirteen floors are surrounded by a perimeter of open stainless
steel grilles and suspended from the shaft by three primary
vertical steel trusses
The total weight of the tower is 3,000 tons. A large number of
cables keep the tower upright:

The lower guys are composed three series of 180 parallel

strand cables (15 mm diameter) made from pre-tensioned high-
strength steel with a polyethylene covering, each;

The upper guys are made of three series of 7 aramid fiber

cables in parallel (56 mm diameter), each terminated with a
resin socket. The three upper cables have a combined breaking
strength of 4,200 tons
Eiffel Tower
Paris, 1889

The birth of the new era of high-rise building

construction is surely reflected by the unbelievable
height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, 1889, with 300
m. The exponential shape of the tower is almost
funicular as vertical cantilever with respect to
lateral wind pressure and as a column with respect
to weight (i.e. equal stress). The tower conveys an
understanding of equilibrium forms and expresses
clearly lateral stability with its wide base similar to
the base of tree trunks.
THANK YOU