Chapter 4

FEM for Trusses

4.1 Introduction

A truss is one of the simplest and most widely used structural members. It is a straight bar that is designed to take only axial forces, and therefore deforms only along its axial direction. An example of a structure consisting of an assemblage of trusses can be seen in Figure 2.7. The cross-section of the truss can be arbitrary, but the dimensions of the cross-section should be much smaller than that in the axial direction—a characteristic of a truss or bar structure.

Finite element equations for such truss members will be developed in this chapter. The one-dimensional element developed is commonly known as the truss element or bar element. Such elements are applicable for analysis of skeletal-type truss ...

Get The Finite Element Method, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.