Mechanical Engineering / University of Twente
Matching Day Mini Lecture: Truss Analysis
1 Introduction
In this mini lecture, you will get a taste of a typical Year 1 lecture and tutorial. We will
study an engineering structure and explore how we can find out how the forces are trans-
ferred through this structure. This will help us understand the particular dimensions of the
structure.
2 The Svanen
Figure 1 shows the Svanen, a floating crane that was initially designed for the construc-
tion of a number of bridges in Scandinavia (Storebaelt Bridge, Sont Bridge) and Canada
(Confederation Bridge). Since 2006 it has been repurposed for the construction of off-
shore windfarm foundations. The Svanen was designed in 1991 by Gusto Engineering for
Ballast Nedam – both Dutch firms. The height of the crane is just over 100 m and it is
able to carry up to 8.7 × 106 kg.
When you take a closer look at the picture of the Svanen, you will notice that it is
built up of a number of straight structural components, which we call bars and which in
this case are made of steel. You may also notice that some of these bars are significantly
heavier than others. Are we able to understand why this is the case? The answer is “yes”
– using a few assumptions and some fundamental mechanics principles.
3 A few basic concepts
3.1 Hinges
A hinge is a type of connection that ensures the two components translate together, but it
allows for the two components to rotate independently. Take the example of the door of
a car: the door is connected to the car via a hinge. If the car drives away, the door moves
with it – the translations of car and door are linked. But the car and the door are able
to rotate separately, because the door can be opened even if the car is driving around a
corner (although this is not advisable).
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Figure 1: The Svanen floating crane [source: [Link]
3.2 Trusses
The term “truss” is used for structural forms whereby all structural components are straight
bars and whereby these bars are interconnected via so-called hinges. The latter assump-
tion is usually a simplification: very often the connections are not hinges but so-called
“rigid connections” that link not only translations but also rotations (as is the case with
the example of the Svanen). Irrespective, to assume all connections to be hinges turns out
to be a good approximation of the real behaviour of such structures.
Furthermore, it is assumed that in a truss all loads are applied at the hinge connec-
tions. Again, this is a simplification: in reality there are also loads that act on the bars
themselves, such as gravity. However, it turns out that the dominant loads can be consid-
ered to act on the hinges with a limited loss of accuracy.
3.3 Two force members
A hinge can transfer forces between the two components that it connects – such a transfer
of forces follows from Newton’s Third Law, the principle of action and reaction. A truss
bar, which is connected via two hinges at its two ends and which does not have forces
applied to halfway the bar, is therefore only subjected to forces via its connecting pins.
Thus, a truss bar is subjected to two forces, and as such we refer to a truss bar as a
particular example of a two force member. As we will see next, this has important and
useful implications for the equilibrium of a truss bar.
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4 Equilibrium of a truss bar
When we consider a state of equilibrium, we can state that if the whole structure is in
equilibrium, then also each individual component is in equilibrium. In Figure 2 we explore
what that means for a single truss bar. The truss bar is indicated with a straight line and
the two connecting hinges are depicted with small circles.
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Figure 2: Fundamental equilibrium considerations of a single truss bar
In Figure 2(a) we have a situation whereby the two forces, acting on the truss bar via
the hinges, are neither equal in magnitude nor equal in direction. This means there is no
force equilibrium: the sum of the forces does not add up to zero. In turn, this implies that
this truss bar will start to accelerate, in this case both horizontally (since the horizontal
components of the two forces do not add up to zero) and vertically (since the vertical
components of the two forces do not add up to zero either).
The forces in Figure 2(b) are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Therefore,
there is force equilibrium: the horizontal components as well as the vertical components
of the two forces each add up to zero. However, there is a non-zero perpendiculat distance
between the two forces. An object that is subjected to such a set of forces will start to
rotate – and although there is equilibrium of forces, there is a lack of so-called moment
equilibrium.
Returning briefly to Figure 2(a), we can now say that also here there is a lack of
moment equilibrium, and this truss bar will also start to rotate. The quantitative details of
moment equilibrium will not be covered in this mini lecture, but are treated in detail in
Year 1 of the programme.
Finally, in Figure 2(c) the two forces are equal in magnitude, opposite in direction,
and with a zero perpendicular distance between them. This is a state of force equilibrium
as well as moment equilibrium. In truss analysis we distinguish two specific cases:
1. if the two forces are pointing away from the bar, the bar is being pulled and thus it
is in a state of tension;
2. if the two forces are pointing towards the bar, the bar is being pushed and thus it is
in a state of compression.
Thus, if a truss is in equilibrium, each of its bars is either in tension or in compression –
unless of course the forces acting on that particular bar happen to be zero, in which case
we refer to that bar as a zero force member. A general observation is:
The orientation of the force in a truss bar is identical to the orientation of the bar itself.
3
5 Analysis of the Svanen
We are now in a position to carry out a mechanical analysis of the Svanen and calculate
(an estimate of) the forces in each of the components of this structure. Figure 3 shows
a simplified model of the Svanen. The simplifications involve geometry (assuming every
truss bar to be either horizontal, vertical, or diagonal with a 45◦ inclination angle) and the
dimensional reduction to a 2D configuration – focussing on the so-called “side view” of
Figure 1. There are also (as yet unknown) horizontal and vertical interaction forces HA ,
VA , HB and VB where the truss structure is connected to its support platform.
The mechanical analysis will consist of resolving horizontal force equilibrium and
vertical force equilibrium of every hinge. In truss analysis, this particular method is known
as the “Method of Joints”. To this end, in Figure 4 the truss structure is plotted again, but
now with every hinge and every bar drawn separately. The analysist (i.e. you!) needs to
decide on two aspects:
1. which hinge to consider: with only two force equilibrium equations at our disposal,
namely horizontal and vertical force equilibrium, we should focus on hinges that
have no more than two unknown bar forces;
2. which equilibrium equation to consider: to simplify our analysis, it makes sense to
consider the direction of force equilibrium that has the fewest number of unknowns.
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Figure 4: Method of Joints analysis of the Svanen
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6 Considerations and conclusions
6.1 Reaction forces
The forces you have found acting on hinges A and B from the adjacent truss bars AC, BC
and BD are equilibrated by forces acting on these hinges by the platform that supports the
truss structure. Such forces (indicated here with HA , VA , HB and VB ) are called “support
reactions” or “reaction forces”. Being able to compute them for a wide variety of structural
forms is an important part of the Year 1 curriculum.
In our example we were able to resolve the reaction forces by applying the Method
of Joints, starting from the top of the structure and progressing downwards. It is equally
possible to find the reaction forces by considering force and moment equilibrium for the
whole truss using Figure 3, but this is not explained in detail here.
6.2 Interpreting dimensions of the various truss bars
With the values you have found for the forces in the various truss bars of Figure 4, it
should now be possible to understand the dimensions of these bars: check the relative
magnitude of the forces in two bars, and see for yourself how that relates to how thick or
how thin the bars are in Figure 1. However, there is one bar for which this does not hold.
Which bar is that? Can you think of a reason why this bar might be an exception?
With the simplified analysis presented today, there is no rational answer to this last
question, but in the programme we will cover more advanced areas of mechanics, such as
stability and dynamics, that will equip you with the skills and knowledge to understand
structural design – so that you can be an engineer!
