In-plane buckling of trusses

Abstract

One of the main influences in the design of planar triangulated trusses is the choice of effective lengths for the various members. The article proposes an iterative method which converges to the exact buckling load for each of the members according to the bifurcation theory. Using the concept of equivalent modulus in compression, the method is then extended to the inelastic domain. Member resistances are compared with exact results published in Europe. It is shown that, for conventional trusses, good accuracy may be expected. The influence of joint flexibility and eccentricity in tubular trusses is examined to show that, while moderate eccentricities may be altogether disregarded, angular joint flexibilities tend to increase the buckling length of web members. Key words: buckling, eccentricity, effective, flexibility, joint, resistance, triangulated, truss, tubular.