Design Example 6.

3 Bridge Design
The loads a bridge structure must support & pin
supports where the structure is to attached are
shown in Fig. 6.14(1). Assigned to design the
structure, a civil engineering student proposes the
structure shown in Fig. 6.14(2). What are the axial
forces in the members?

Fig. 6.14
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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Strategy
The vertical members AG, BH, CI, DJ & EK are
subjected to compressive forces of magnitude F.
Because of the symmetry of the structure, we can
determine the axial loads in the remaining
members by analyzing joints C & B.

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Solution
We will it as an exercise to show by drawing the
free-body diagrams of joint C that members BC &
CD are subjected to equal compressive loads of
magnitude 1.93F.
We draw the free-body diagram
of joint B where
TBC = 1.93F:

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Solution
From the equilibrium equations:
Fx = TAB cos + TBC cos 15 = 0
Fy = TAB sin + TBC sin 15 F = 0
We obtain TAB = 2.39F & = 38.8. By symmetry,
TDE = TAB. The axial forces in the members are
shown in Table 6.1:
Members
AG, BH, CI, DJ, EK

Axial Force
F (C)

AB, DE

2.39F (C)

BC, CB

1.93F (C)

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6.1

Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues

The bridge was an early application of

engineering
The basic difficulty in bridge design is that a
single beam extended between the banks will fail
if the distance between banks, or span, is too
large:
To meet the need for bridges of increasing
strength & span, civil engineers created
ingenious & aesthetic designs in antiquity &
continue to do so today

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues

The bridge structure proposed by the student in

this example, called an arch, is an ancient
design
Notice in Table 6.1 that all the members of
the structure are in compression
Because masonry (stone, brick or concrete)
is weak in tension but very strong in
compression, many bridges made of these
materials were designed with arched span in
the past

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues
For

the same reason, modern concrete

bridges are often built with arched spans:

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues

Unlike the masonry, wood & steel can support

substantial forces in both compression &
tension:
E.g. the forces in Fig. 6.14(1) can be
supported by the Pratt truss:

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues
Its

members are subjected to both tension &

compression (Table 6.2):
Members

Axial Force

AB, BC, CD, DE

1.5F (T)

AG, EI

2.12F (C)

CG, CI

0.71F (T)

GH, HI

2F (C)

BG, DI

F (T)

CH

0
Table 6.2

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues
The

Forth Bridge has a truss structure:

However,

truss bridges are too heavy for the

largest bridges. (The Forth Bridge contains
58 000 tons of steel)

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues

By taking advantage of the ability of relatively

light cables to support large tensile forces, civil
engineers use suspension structures to bridge
very large spans:
The system of 5 forces we are using as an
example can be supported by the simple
suspension structure:

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues
In

effect, the compression arch is inverted

The loads are suspended from members AB,
BC, CD & DE
Every member of this structure except the
towers AG & EK is in tension (Table 6.3):
Members

Axial Force
F (T)

BH, CI, DJ
AB, DE

2.39F (T)

BC, CD

1.93F (T)
Table 6.3

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Design Example 6.3 Bridge Design

Design Issues
The

largest existing
bridges, such as the
Golden Gate Bridge,
consist of cablesuspended spans
supported by towers:

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6.3 The Method of Sections

When we need to know the axial forces only in

certain members of a truss, we often can
determine them more quickly using the method
of sections than the method of joints
E.g. consider the Warren truss we used for the
method of joints:
It supports loads at B & D & each member is
2 m in length
Suppose we need to
determine only the
axial force in
member BC

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6.3 The Method of Sections

Just

as in the method of joints, we begin by

drawing a free-body diagram of the entire
truss & determining the reactions at the
supports:

The

next step is to cut the members AC, BC &

BD to obtain a free-body diagram of a part, or
a section, of the truss:

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6.3 The Method of Sections

Summing

moments about point B,

the equilibrium equations for the
section are:
Fx = TAC + TBD + TBC cos 60 = 0
Fy = 500 N 400 N TBC sin 60 = 0
Mpoint B = (2 sin 60 m)TAC
(2 cos 60 m)(500 N) = 0
Solving them, we obtain TAC = 289 N,
TBC = 115 N & TBD = 346 N.

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6.3 The Method of Sections

Notice how similar this method is to the method

of joints:
Both methods involve cutting members to
obtain free-body diagrams of parts of a truss
In the method of joints, we move from joint to
joint, drawing free-body diagrams of the joints
& determining the axial forces in the members
as we go
In the method of sections, we try to obtain a
single free-body diagram that allows us to
determine the axial forces in specific
members

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6.3 The Method of Sections

In

our example, we obtained a free-body diagram

by cutting 3 members, including the 1 (member
BC) whose axial force we wanted to determine
In contrast to the method of joints, the forces on the
free-body diagrams used in the method of sections
are not usually concurrent:
As in our example, we can obtain 3 independent
equilibrium equations
Although there are exceptions, it is usually
necessary to choose a section that requires
cutting no more than 3 members, or there will be
more unknown axial forces than equilibrium
equations

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Example 6.4 Applying the Method of

Sections

The truss in Fig. 6.22 supports a 100-kN load.

The horizontal members are each 1 m in length.
Determine the axial force in member CJ & state
whether it is in tension or compression.

Fig. 6.22

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Example 6.4 Applying the Method of

Sections
Strategy
We need to obtain a section by cutting members
that include member CJ. By cutting members CD,
CJ & IJ, we will obtain a free-body diagram with 3
unknown axial forces.

Solution
To obtain a section, we cut members CD, CJ & IJ
& draw the free-body diagram of the part of the
truss on the right side of the truss
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Example 6.4 Applying the Method of

Sections
Solution

From the equilibrium

equation:
Fy = TCJ sin 45 100 kN
=0
We obtain TCJ = 141.4 kN.
The axial force in member
CJ is 141.4 kN (T).
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Example 6.4 Applying the Method of

Sections
Critical Thinking

We designed this example to demonstrate that

the method of sections can be very
advantageous when you only need to determine
the axial forces in particular members of a truss
Imagine calculating the axial force in member
CJ using the method of joints
But in engineering applications it is usually
necessary to know the axial forces in all the
members of a truss & in that case the 2 methods
are comparable

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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Determine the axial forces in members DG & BE of
the truss in Fig. 6.23.

Fig. 6.23
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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Strategy
We cant obtain a section that involves cutting
members DG & BE without cutting more than 3
members. However, cutting members DG, BE, CD
& BC results in a section with which we can
determine the axial forces in members DG & BE.

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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Solution
Determine the Reactions at the Supports:
Draw the free-body diagram of the entire truss:

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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Solution
From the equilibrium equations:
Fx = Ax = 0
Fy = Ay + K F 2F F = 0
Mpoint A = LF (2L)(2F) (3L)F + (4L)K = 0
We obtain the reactions Ax = 0, Ay = 2F & K = 2F.

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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Solution
Choose a Section:
We obtain a section by cutting
members DG, CD, BC & BE.
Because the lines of action of
TBE, TBC & TCD pass through point
B, we can determine TDG by
summing moments about B:
Mpoint B = L(2F) (2L)TDG = 0
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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Solution
The axial force TDG = F.
Then from the equilibrium equation:
Fx = TDG + TBE = 0
We see that TBE = TDG = F.
Member DG is in compression & member BE is in
tension.

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Example 6.5 Choosing an Appropriate

Section
Critical Thinking

This is a clever example but not 1 that is typical

of problems faced in practice:
The section used to solve it might not be
obvious even to a person with experience
analyzing structures
Notice that the free-body diagram of the
section of the truss is statically indeterminate,
although it can be sued to determine the axial
forces in members DG & BE

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6.4 Space Trusses

We can form a simple 3-D structure by connecting

6 bars at their ends to obtain a tetrahedron
By adding members, we can obtain more
elaborate structures:

3-D structures such as these are called space

trusses if they have joints that do not exert
couples on the members (i.e. the joints behave
like ball & socket supports) & they are loaded &
supported at their joints

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6.4 Space Trusses

Space trusses are analyzed by the same

methods we described for 2-D trusses
The only difference is the need to cope with
more complicated geometry
Consider the space truss:
Suppose that the load
F = 2i 6j k (kN)
The joints A, B & C rest on
the smooth floor
Joint A is supported by the
corner where the smooth
walls meet & joint C rests
against the back wall

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6.4 Space Trusses

We can apply the method of joints to this truss:

1st, we must determine the reactions exerted
by the supports (the floor & walls):
Draw the free-body diagram of the entire
truss
The corner can exert 3
components of force at
A, the floor & wall can
exert 2 components of
force at C & the floor can
exert a normal force at B

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6.4 Space Trusses

Summing

the moments about A, we find

that the equilibrium equations, with forces in
kN & distances in m, are:
Fx = Ax 2 = 0
Fy = Ay + By + Cy 6 = 0
Fz = Az + Cz 1 = 0
M point A rAB B y j rAC C y j C z k rAD F
i

2 0
0 By

34 0
0 0 Cy

0 2
3
1
Cz 2 6 2

3B y 3 i 4C z j 2 B y 4C y 6 k 0
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6.4 Space Trusses

Solving

the equations, we obtain the

reactions Ax = 2 kN, Ay = 4 kN, Az = 1 kN,
By = 1 kN, Cy = 1 kN & Cz = 0.

In

this example, we can determine

the axial forces in members AC, BC
& CD from the free-body diagram
of joint C:
To write the equilibrium
equations for the joint, we must
express the 3 axial forces in
terms of their components

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6.4 Space Trusses

Because

member AC lies along the x axis,

we express the force exerted on joint C by
the axial force TAC as the vector TACi

Let

rCB be the position vector from C to B:

rCB = (2 4)i + (0 0)j + (3 0)k = 2i + 3k

Dividing

this vector by its magnitude that

points from C toward B yields:
eCB

rCB

0.555i 0.832k
rCB

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6.4 Space Trusses

And

we express the force exerted on joint C

by the axial force TCD as the vector:
TBC eCB = TBC(0.555i + 0.832k)
In the same way, we express the force
exerted on joint C by the axial force TCD as
the vector:
TCD(0.535i + 0.802j + 0.267k)
Setting the sum of the forces on the joint
equal to zero, we obtain:
TACi + TBC(0.555i + 0.832k)
+ TCD(0.535i + 0.802j + 0.267k) + (1 kN)j = 0

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6.4 Space Trusses

And

then get 3 equilibrium equations:

Fx = TAC 0.555TBC 0.535TCD = 0

Fy = 0.802TCD + 1 kN = 0
Fz = 0.832TBC + 0.267TCD = 0
Solving

these equations, the axial forces

are TAC = 0.444 kN, TBC = 0.401 kN & TCD =
1.247 kN
Members AC & BC are in tension & member
CD is in compression
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6.4 Space Trusses

By

continuing to draw free-body diagrams of

the joints, we can determine the axial forces in
all the members
As our examples demonstrates, 3 equilibrium
equations can be obtained from the free-body
diagram of a joint in 3 dimensions, so it is
usually necessary to choose joints to analyze
that are subjected to known forces & no more
than 3 unknown forces

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