CHAPTER 2: STATICALLY

DETERMINATE PLANE TRUSS

DR. NORFANIZA MOKHTAR
 WHAT IS TRUSS?
• A truss is a structure composed of slender
members joined together at their end points
• The members commonly used in construction
consist of wooden struts, metal bars, angles or
channels
• The joint connections are usually formed by
bolting or welding the ends of the members to a
common plate, called a gusset plate or by simply
passing a large bolt or pin through each of the
members
 TRUSS
• Plane or planar truss composed of members
that lie in the same plane and frequently used
for bridge and roof support
• Load that caused the entire truss to bend are
converted into tensile and compressive forces
in members
 TRUSS

• Loading caused bending of truss, which

develops compression in top members and
tension in bottom members
 COMMON TYPES OF TRUSSES
1) ROOF TRUSS
 ROOF TRUSS
• Often used as part of an industrial building
frame
• The roof load is transmitted to the truss at the
joints by means of a series of purlins
• Roof trusses are supported either by columns
of wood, steel or reinforced concrete or by
masonry wall
• The roof trusses along with its supporting
columns is called as bent
 ROOF TRUSS
• To keep the bent rigid, and capable of resisting
horizontal wind forces, knee braces are
sometimes used at the supporting columns
• The space between adjacent bents is called a bay
• Bays are often tied together using diagonal
bracing in order to maintain rigidity of the
structure
• Trusses used to support roofs are selected on the
basis of the span, the slope and the roof
materials
ROOF TRUSS
 COMMON TYPES OF TRUSSES
2) BRIDGE TRUSS
 BRIDGE TRUSS
• The load on the deck is first transmitted to
stringers, then to the floor beams, and finally to
the joints of the two supporting side trusses
• The top and bottom cords of these side trusses
are connected by top and bottom lateral bracing,
which serves to resist the lateral forces caused by
wind and the sideways caused by moving vehicles
on the bridge
• Additional stability is provided by the portal and
sway bracing
BRIDGE TRUSS
 ASSUMPTION FOR DESIGN
• To design both the members and the connections
of a truss, it is necessary to determine the force
developed in each member when the truss is
subjected to a given loading.
• The assumptions are;
1) The members are joined together by smooth
pins
2) All loading are applied at the joints (member
weight are negligible)
 ASSUMPTION FOR DESIGN
• Because of these two assumptions, each truss
member acts as an axial force member, and
therefore the forces acting at the ends of the
member must be directed along the axis of
the member
• If the force tends to elongate the member, it is
a tensile force (T)
• If the force tends to shorten the member, it is
a compressive force (C)
ASSUMPTION FOR DESIGN

Tensile Force (T)

Compressive Force (C)

 STABILITY AND DETERMINACY
• The structure mechanics involves determination
of unknown forces on the structures
• Some of these structures can be completely
analysed by using the equations of equilibrium
σ 𝐹𝑥 = 0
σ 𝐹𝑦 = 0 The structures are known as statically determinate

σ 𝑀𝑧 = 0
If there exist extra redundant reaction components,
then the structure is said to be statically
indeterminate
 STABILITY AND DETERMINACY
• To be in a state of static equilibrium, a
structure must meet the requirements of
stability
• A statically indeterminate structure is a
structure that had more unknown forces
 STABILITY AND DETERMINACY
Determinacy Classification
1 𝑚 + 𝑟 = 2𝑗 Statically determinate
2 𝑚 + 𝑟 < 2𝑗 Unstable (it will collapse since
there will be an insufficient
numbers of bars or reactions to
constraint all the joints
3 𝑚 + 𝑟 > 2𝑗 Statically indeterminate
 EXAMPLE 1
Determine number of redundant and state the determinacy criteria for the
truss as shown below;

𝑚 = 10, 𝑟 = 3, 𝑗 = 6
𝑚 + 𝑟 = 13
2𝑗 = 12
Therefore, 𝑚 + 𝑟 > 2𝑗
∴ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 1°𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑦
 EXAMPLE 2
Determine number of redundant and state the determinacy criteria for the
truss as shown below;

𝑚 = 11, 𝑟 = 3, 𝑗 = 7
𝑚 + 𝑟 = 14
2𝑗 = 14
Therefore, 𝑚 + 𝑟 = 2𝑗
∴ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒
 EXAMPLE 3
Define whether the truss is statically determinate or indeterminate

𝑚 = 7, 𝑟 = 3, 𝑗 = 5
𝑚 + 𝑟 = 10
2𝑗 = 10
Therefore, 𝑚 + 𝑟 = 2𝑗
∴ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒
However, this truss is unstable since the support reactions
are parallel
 THE METHOD OF JOINTS
Procedure for analysis
1) Determine the truss is determinate or
indeterminate by using the stability and
determinacy equation
2) Calculate the support reactions if necessary
3) Draw the free-body diagram of a joint having
at least one known force and at most two
unknown forces
 THE METHOD OF JOINTS
4) All loads are assumed moved outward from the
joint
5) The x and y axes can be resolved into their x and
y components. Two force equilibrium equations ΣFx
=0 and ΣFy =0 are applied
6) Continue to analyze the member forces at the
other joints where again it is necessary to choose a
joint having at most two unknowns and at least one
known force
7) Indicate whether the member in compression or
tension
 EXAMPLE 4
Calculate all member forces by using method of
joints.
 EXAMPLE 5
Determine the
support reactions
and member
forces using
method of joints.
All members are
connected at
both ends by
smooth
frictionless pins.
 METHOD OF SECTIONS
• Used when only a few members of a truss are to
be found
• Consist of passing an imaginary section through
the truss, thus cutting it into two parts
• Provided the entire truss is in equilibrium, each of
the two parts must also be in equilibrium.
Therefore, the three equations of equilibrium
may be applied to either one of these two parts
to determine the forces at the cut section
 METHOD OF SECTIONS
PROCEDURE FOR ANALYSIS
• Determine the truss is determinate or
indeterminate by using the stability and
determinancy equation
• Calculate the support reactions if necessary
• Make a decision as to how to ‘cut’ the truss
through the members where forces are to be
determined
 METHOD OF SECTIONS
• Draw the free-body diagram of the part of the
section truss whether left or right section
which has the least number of forces on it
• Moments should be summed about a point
that lies at the intersection of the lines of
action of two unknown forces. The third
unknown force is determined directly from
the equation
 EXAMPLE 6
Determine the forces of member BC, CG and FG by using
method of section. Prove the truss is statically determinate.
State whether the members are in tension or compression
 EXAMPLE 6
Determine the force in members CA, CF and FE of the bridge
truss by using method of section. State whether the members
are in tension of compression. The support reactions have
been calculated
 EXAMPLE 7
Determine the member forces of HI, ID and CD by using
the method of sections
ALTERNATIVE METHOD
 EXAMPLE 8
Calculate all member forces by using alternative
method.
 EXAMPLE 9
Calculate all member forces
THE END