Trusses and Frames
A Small Intro
In every day life we see different types structures like towers, buildings, machines, bridges, constructed with long pieces of metal or wood(members). These structures need assured rigidity when we apply load on it and we as an engineers need to know weather these long pieces are capable to sustain under given loads. To build strong structures we need to examine tensile, compressive and shear forces acting on that members along with stability of structure. In these upcoming articles we are going to learn and understand what makes a structure stable and strong.
To understand clearly, we are going to cover some Basic definitions.
Member
Members are straight long pieces of wood or metal which are used to create structures. There are also called as Beams
Truss
It is a rigid structure in which all members are subjected to either axial tensile or axial compression load. No bending happen to members.
Conditions
- Members should be pin jointed or hinged only.
- Loads should be applied on the joints only and a member have the joint at its end only.
- Only concentrated point load should be applied.
- Weight of members is neglected in these calculations.
Strut and Tie
A member under compression load is called strut and a member under tensile load is called Tie.
Plane Truss and Space Truss
A plane truss is one where all members and nodes lie within a two-dimensional plane, while a space truss has members and nodes that extend into three dimensions.
Stringer and Floor beam
Loaded longitudinal beams are the stringers and the heavier transverse members are called floor beams.
