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Truss Problem.
Instructor: Dr. Farid Amirouche
For the truss shown in the above figure, we assume that all truss elements have the same material
properties E and cross-section area A given by
E 29.5 105 psi,
A 1.0 in 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Solution:
1 The labeling of the truss is shown below: keep in mind that this labeling is not unique and
hence one need to label the truss in a manner that is acceptable, easy to read and computer
efficient. We need to label both the elements as well as the joints (nodes).
Joint
1
2
3
4
Column
1
3
5
7
Numbers
2
4
6
8
Truss element e
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
N1
1
2
2
4
N2
2
4
3
3
i,j from
kije
1
2
3
4
Truss Element E
[1]
1
2
3
4
[2]
3
4
7
8
[3]
3
4
5
6
[4]
5
6
7
8
3 The element stiffness matrices for each truss element are obtained as follows:
[1]
For truss element [1], we have 0 . Therefore, kij is given by
kij[1]
0 1 0
0 0 0 1 29.5 105
0 1 0
36
0 0 0
AE 0
L 1
1
0
0 1 0
1
0
0 0 0
8.19 104
1
0 1 0
0 0 0
0
0 1 0
0 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 0
Similarly, we have
kij[2]
kij[3]
0 0
AE 0 1
L 0 0
0 1
kij[4]
AE 0
L 1
0
0 1 1 29.5 105
0 0
36
0 1
0
0 1 0
0 0 0 1 29.5 105
0 1 0
36
0 0 0
0 0
0 1
0 0
0 1
1
0
0
0 0
0 1
0 1
8.19 104
0 0
0 0
0 1
0 1
0
0 1 0
1
0
0 0 0
8.19 104
1
0 1 0
0 0 0
0
0
0 1
, 90
0 0
0 1
0
0 1 0
0 0 0
, 0
0 1 0
0 0 0
3 The global matrices are obtained using table 3 where it indicated which columns and rows are
needed for the contribution of the local stiffness to the global stiffness matrix.
For truss element [1], its contribution to the global stiffness is given by
K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
K 1 41
0
0
0
K121
K131
K141
1
22
1
32
1
42
1
23
1
33
1
43
1
24
1
34
1
44
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Note how we used the number below element 1 in table 3 (1,2,3,4) which indicate columns and rows
1,2,3,and 4 are needed for element 1.
Similarly, for element 2 gathering the information from table 3 we see that we can write element
2 contributions as follows.
0
0
0
2
K
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K 332
K 432
0
0
K 732
K832
0
0
K 342
K 442
0
0
K 742
K842
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K 382
2
K 48
0
K 782
K882
0
0
K 372
2
K 47
0
0
K 772
K872
0
K3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K 333
3
K 43
K 533
3
K 63
0
0
K 343
3
K 44
K 543
3
K 64
0
0
K 353
3
K 45
K 553
3
K 65
0
0
K 363
3
K 46
K 563
3
K 66
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
K
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K 554
K 654
K 754
K854
0
0
0
0
K 564
K 664
K 764
K864
0
0
0
0
K 574
K 674
K 774
K874
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K 584
K 684
K 784
K884
Therefore, the global stiffness is found by adding the above 3 matrices resulting in.
K K1 K 2 K 3 K 4
K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
41
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
K121
1
K 22
K131
1
K 23
K141
1
K 24
1
K 32
1
K 33
1
K 34
1
K 42
1
K 43
1
K 44
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 K
0 K
0 K
0
0
3
33
3
43
3
53
3
63
K
K
K
0 K
0 0
0
K111
1
K 21
1
K 31
1
K
41
0
0
0
3
34
3
44
3
54
3
64
0
0
K
K
K
3
35
3
45
3
55
3
65
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0
0
K
K
K
3
36
3
46
3
56
3
66
K
0
K
0
K
0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
K121
K131
K141
1
22
1
32
1
42
1
23
2
33
2
43
3
53
3
63
2
73
2
83
1
24
2
34
2
44
3
54
3
64
2
74
2
84
K
K
K
1
K 33
K K 333
1
3
K 43
K K 43
0 0
0 0
0 K 332
K 342
0 0 K 372
0 K 432
K 442
0 0 K 472
0
0
K
K
K
0
0
0 0
0 0
0
0
0 K 732
K 742
0 0 K 772
0 K832
K842
0 0 K872
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 K 554
0
K 564
0
K 574
0 0 0 K 654
K 664
K 674
4
75
4
85
4
76
4
86
K 774
0 0 0 K
0 0 0 K
K
K
1
K 34
K K 343
1
3
K 44
K K 44
0
0
K874
0
0
K 382
K 482
0
0
K 782
K882
0
0
0
0
K 584
K 684
K 784
K884
0
K 353
3
K 45
K 363
3
K 46
K 372
K 472
K 553 K 554
K 563 K 564
K 574
K K
K K
K 674
3
65
4
65
3
66
4
66
K 754
K 764
K 772 K 774
K 854
K864
K872 K874
K 382
2
K 48
K 584
4
K 68
K 782 K 784
K882 K884
0
5. Solution:
For the whole truss system, we write the equation relating the global forces and displacements:
[ F ] [ K ][U ]
F1x
Where
[F ]
U1x
F1 y
U1 y
F2 x
U2x
F2 y
F3 x
and
[U ]
U2y
U3x
F3 y
U3y
F4 x
U4x
F4 y
U4y
For the given truss, the boundary conditions are simply the given information about both the
external forces and displacements:
F1x
F1 y
F2 x
R1x
R1 y
Px
R1x
R1 y
1500 cos
6
F2 y
Py
[F ]
1500 sin
F3 x
6
0
0
F3 y
R3 y
R3 y
F4 x
0
0
F4 y
0
and
[U ]
U1 x
U1 y
U2x
U2x
U2y
U2y
U3x
U3y
U3x
U4x
U4x
U4y
U4y
8.19
0
8.19
0
0
0 8.19
0
0
0 11.085
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0 0
2.895 2.895 U 2 x
2.895 11.085
0
8.19 2.895 2.895 U 2 y
104
0
0
8.19
0
8.19
0 U3x
0
8.19
0
8.19
0
0 0
2.895 2.895 8.19
0
11.085 2.895 U 4 x
2.895 2.895
0
0
2.895 2.895 U 4 y
0
0
2.895
0
0
0
0
0
0
Since we have 8 unknown variables (3 reaction forces and 5 displacements) and 8 equations, the
linear equation [ F ] [ K ][U ] is solvable. Eliminating the reaction forces equations will allow us
to obtain 5 equations with 5 displacements as unknowns. We solve for the displacements using
standard rules such as cramers method or inverse of the matrix method, the reaction forces will
then be obtained by simply multiplying the appropriate rows with the displacement array. The
final solution is provided below.
U1x
U1 y
U2x
0.0148
U4y
0.0256
R1x
0.1212
U2y
0.0086
R1 y
0
104 ; [U ]
U 3x
0.0047
R3 y
0.0704
U3y
0
U4x
0.0052