Trusses: Interpreting Form and Behavior
Review points from lecture 19


Arch 324/624, Introduction to Structural Design, University of Virginia Copyright © 1996-2009 Kirk Martini. Last Modified Wed, 07-Jan-2009 8:35

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• The workings of a proposed or existing truss can often be understood by relatively simple methods, rather than complete analysis. Such methods include:

  • Interpretation with respect to shear and moment diagrams for the span and loading condition.

  • Comparison with the funicular shape for the span and loading condition.

  • Approximate calculations as an equivalent beam (e.g. approximate calculation of deflections using the moment of inertia for the whole truss cross section.

• Expectation, Analysis and Learning

  • It is important to form an expectation of the outcome before performing an analysis.

  • If the analysis results disagree with expectation, then probably one of two things have happened:

    • You've discovered an error in the model.

    • You've arrived at an opportunity to learn by critically evaluating the results and understand the unexpected behavior.

  • If the analysis matches expectation, it probably means that your structural intuition is maturing. Explaining the unexpected is a key part of maturing intuition.

  • Approximate calculation methods are essential in both the process of forming an expectation, and in assessing unexpected results.

Arch 324/624, Introduction to Structural Design, University of Virginia Copyright © 1996-2009 Kirk Martini. Last Modified Wed, 07-Jan-2009 8:35

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