Engr. Yoshiaki C. Mikami, Bsce Msce-Ste RMP: Prepared by

Prepared By
ENGR. YOSHIAKI C. MIKAMI, BSCE MSCE-STE RMP

ANALYSIS ON PLANE TRUSS
Truss
- A truss is an assemblage of straight members connected at
their ends by flexible connections to form a rigid configuration.
- Because of their light weight and high strength, trusses are
widely used, and their applications range from supporting
bridges and roofs of buildings to being support structures in
space stations.
- Modern trusses are constructed by connecting members,
which usually consist of structural steel or aluminum shapes or
wood struts, to gusset plates by bolted or welded connections.
DON’T PRACTICE UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT. PRACTICE UNTIL YOU CAN’T GET IT WRONG.
Truss
Sample of bridge truss
Truss
Sample of roof truss
Truss
Truss connections
Truss
Common bridge trusses
Truss
Common roof trusses
Assumptions in the analysis of truss
The analysis of trusses is usually based on the following
simplifying assumptions:
• All members are connected only at their ends by frictionless
hinges in plane trusses.
• All loads and support reactions are applied only at the joints.
• The centroidal axis of each member coincides with the line
connecting the centers of the adjacent joints.
The reason for making these assumptions is to obtain an ideal

truss, whose members are subjected only to axial forces. Since
each member of an ideal truss is connected at its ends by
frictionless hinges (assumption 1) with no loads applied
between its ends (assumption 2), the member would be
subjected to only two forces at its ends.
In real trusses, these idealizations are almost never completely
realized. As stated previously, real trusses are constructed by
connecting members to gusset plates by welded or bolted
connections. Some members of the truss may even be
continuous at the joints. Furthermore, although the external
loads are indeed transmitted to the trusses at joints by means
of floor beams, purlins, and so on, the dead weights of the
members are distributed along their lengths. The bending
moments and shear and axial forces caused by these and
other deviations from the aforementioned idealized conditions
are commonly referred to as secondary forces. The secondary
forces in such trusses are small compared to the primary forces
and are usually not considered in their designs.
Arrangement of members of plane trusses – internal stability
If a plane truss contains m members and j joints, then if
• m < 2j – 3 : the truss is internally unstable
• m ≥ 2j – 3 : the truss is internally stable
Arrangement of members of plane trusses – internal stability
Static determinacy, indeterminacy, and stability of plane
trusses
- We consider a truss to be statically determinate if the forces in
all its members, as well as all the external reactions, can be
determined by using the equations of equilibrium.
- The conditions of static instability, determinacy, and

indeterminacy of plane trusses can be summarized as follows:
m + r < 2j : statically unstable truss
m + r = 2j : statically determinate truss
m + r > 2j : statically indeterminate truss
Degree of indeterminacy can be computed as:
i = (m + r) – 2j
trusses
trusses
Method of joints
- In the method of joints, the axial forces in the members of a
statically determinate truss are determined by considering the
equilibrium of its joints.
- The method of joints consists of selecting a joint with no more
than two unknown forces (which must not be collinear) acting
on it and applying the two equilibrium equations to determine
the unknown forces. The procedure may be repeated until all
the desired forces have been obtained.
Example 1
Determine the force in members AB, BD, BE and DE of the
howe roof truss shown
Example 1
Ʃ𝑀𝐻 = 0
𝑅𝐴 12𝑚 = 2.7𝑘𝑁 9𝑚 + 4.5𝑘𝑁 6𝑚 + 1.8𝑘𝑁(3𝑚)
𝑅𝐴 = 4.725 𝑘𝑁
At joint A
Ʃ𝐹𝑉 = 0
4.725𝑘𝑁 = 𝐹𝐴𝐵 sin 30°
𝑭𝑨𝑩 = 𝟗. 𝟒𝟓 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
At joint C
Ʃ𝐹𝑉 = 0
𝑭𝑩𝑪 = 𝟐. 𝟕 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
Example 1
At joint B
Ʃ𝐹𝑉 = 0
9.45𝑘𝑁 sin 30° + 𝐹𝐵𝐸 sin 30° =
2.7𝑘𝑁 + 𝐹𝐵𝐷 sin 30°
2.7𝑘𝑁+𝐹𝐵𝐷 sin 30° −9.45𝑘𝑁(sin 30°) 𝐹𝐵𝐷 sin 30° −2.025𝑘𝑁
𝐹𝐵𝐸 = =
sin 30° sin 30°
Ʃ𝐹𝐻 = 0
9.45𝑘𝑁 cos 30° = 𝐹𝐵𝐷 cos 30° + 𝐹𝐵𝐸 cos 30°
𝐹𝐵𝐷 sin 30° −2.025𝑘𝑁
8.1839𝑘𝑁 = 𝐹𝐵𝐷 cos 30° + cos 30°
sin 30°
𝑭𝑩𝑫 = 𝟔. 𝟕𝟓 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
6.75𝑘𝑁 𝑠𝑖𝑛 30° − 2.025𝑘𝑁
𝑭𝑩𝑬 = = 𝟐. 𝟕 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑠𝑖𝑛 30°
Example 1
At joint D
Ʃ𝐹𝐻 = 0
6.75𝑘𝑁 cos 30° = 𝐹𝐷𝐹 cos 30°
𝑭𝑫𝑭 = 𝟔. 𝟕𝟓 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
Ʃ𝐹𝑉 = 0
6.75𝑘𝑁 sin 30° + 𝐹𝐷𝐹 sin 30° = 𝐹𝐷𝐸
𝐹𝐷𝐸 = 6.75𝑘𝑁 sin 30° + 6.75𝑘𝑁 sin 30°
𝑭𝑫𝑬 = 𝟔. 𝟕𝟓 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
Method of sections
- The method of sections enables us to determine forces in the
specific members of trusses directly, without first calculating
many unnecessary member forces, as may be required by the
method of joints.
- The method of sections involves cutting the truss into two
portions by passing an imaginary section through the members
whose forces are desired. The desired member forces are then
determined by considering the equilibrium of one of the two
portions of the truss.
- The unknown member forces are determined by applying the
three equations of equilibrium to one of the two portions of the
truss. There are only three equilibrium equations available, so
they cannot be used to determine more than three unknown
forces. Thus, in general, sections should be chosen that do not
pass through more than three members with unknown forces.
Example 2
Determine the force in member DG
Example 2
Ʃ𝑀𝐴 = 0
𝑅𝐻 8𝑚 = 55𝑘𝑁 2𝑀 + 90𝑘𝑁 4𝑚 + 45𝑘𝑁 6𝑚
𝑅𝐻 = 92.5 𝑘𝑁
Ratio and proportion

𝑥 + 2𝑚 𝑥 + 4𝑚
=
1.5𝑚 2.5𝑚
2.5𝑚 𝑥 + 5𝑚2 = 1.5𝑚 𝑥 + 6𝑚2
𝑥 = 1𝑚
Example 2
Ʃ𝑀𝑂 = 0
𝐹𝐷𝐺 sin 51.34° 3𝑚 + 92.5𝑘𝑁 1𝑚 = 45𝑘𝑁 3𝑚
𝑭𝑫𝑮 = 𝟏𝟖. 𝟏𝟒 𝒌𝑵 − 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
Workout
1. Classify each of the plane trusses shown as unstable,
statically determinate or statically indeterminate. If the truss is
statically indeterminate, then determine the degree of static
indeterminacy
Workout
2. Determine the force in each member of the truss shown by
the method of joints
Workout
3. Determine the force in member GH, GD and CD of the truss
shown by the method of sections

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ENGR. YOSHIAKI C. MIKAMI, BSCE MSCE-STE RMP

The reason for making these assumptions is to obtain an ideal

- The conditions of static instability, determinacy, and

Ratio and proportion

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