DESIGN OF STEEL TRUSSES
BY
IR. BASIR NOORDIN
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The students should be able to :
• Intepret architectural plan
• Do manual calculation
• Prepare trusses layout plan
• Do detailing
ELEMENT OF ROOF TRUSS SYSTEM
Trusses are made up of small members acting in
tension and compression. They are usually used to
carry the roofs of building The element of roof truss
system can be divided into:
• Roof covering
• Purlins
• Sag rods
• Roof truss
ELEMENT OF ROOF TRUSS SYSTEM
ROOF COVERING
Materials usually adopted as coverings for
roofs are:
• Corrugated galvanised iron (G.I)
• Asbestos cement (A.C)
• Concrete tiles
• Steel trough decking
• Etc
Weights or dead load of the rood shall be
referred to manufacturer’s catalogues.
PURLINS
• Purlins support roof decking on flat or sloping roof.
• Purlins are beams which are provided over roof
trusses to support the roof covering.
• Purlins are designed as beams carrying roof loads.
• They may be simply supported over one span or
continuous over two or more spans.
• A channel section is best suited for a purlin.
• The other types of sections used are an I – section and
an angle section.
SAG ROD
• Sag rod can be introduced to reduce the span for
bending about the weak axis caused by the tangential
component of the load.
• A sag rod is designed as a tension member to resist
the tangential component of the roof load and purlin
dead load.
• Sag rods are made from 16 – 20 mm diameter bar.
ROOF TRUSSES
• Type of roof truss to be provided depends on the pitch of
the truss (pitch = H/L = θ ), roof covering, fabrication &
transportation, aesthetic and climate.
• Truss member are subjected only to direct tension and
direct compression. But in reality, some shear and
moment is always there at the joints which is neglected
except for large bridge trusses.
• The truss is assumed to be pin jointed and the loads
applied at the panel points
• Roof trusses are subjected to dead load, live load, snow
load and wind load. The dead load of the truss include
the dead load of roofing materials, insulation board,
purlins, trusses, bracing systems, ceiling & services (if
any).
• The selection of section such as angles, tees, hollow
section to be used is in the hand of the designer.
• Trusses are used for spans above 6 m and up to 50 m.
• Spacing between trusses is usually 5 to 10 m.
• As a guide, the spacing of the roof trusses can be kept ¼
of the span for up to 15 m, and 1/5 of the span from 15-
30 m spans of roof trusses.
DETAILING – DRAFTING LEGEND
STEEL SECTIONS - LEGEND
ANALYSIS OF ROOF TRUSS
The analysis of roof truss consists in determining the
loads at the panel points and then analyzing the
internal forces in the various members of the roof truss.
Any of the following methods can be used for computing
the stresses :
• The algebraic method of joints
• The graphic method of joints
• The method of sections
DESIGN OF ROOF TRUSS
a. The design of a roof truss consists of :
• Selecting suitable type of truss
• Estimation of loads
• Design of purlins
• Design of sag rod
• Design of members of roof truss (tension & compression)
• Design of connections
• Preparation of trusses layout plan & detail drawings
b. Design point
• Not every member of the truss need be designed for the
force in it. This would result in a different section for
every member.
• The designer may use his judgment and group members
together making them all the size required for the
maximum loaded member in the group.
• It is common practice to make the top and bottom chords
of trusses uniform throughout and use continuous
members.
• The connections in a truss should be arranged so that the
centres of gravity of the members meeting at the joint are
concurrent. If this is not the case, there is an out of
balance moment at the joint and this should be taken into
account in design.
WORKED EXAMPLE OF DESIGNING A TRUSS
TRUSSES LAYOUT PLAN
&
DETALING
TRUSS & CONNECTION DETAILS
ROOF TRUSS DETAILS
CONNECTION DETAILS
