ABSTRACT
Trusses are triangulated frameworks used as spanning or bracing elements in buildings, bridges, transmission towers, and other structures. What distinguishes the truss from other structural forms is precisely its triangulation, from which two benefits accrue: first, the triangular geometry is inherently stable; second, all internal stresses-at least in “ideal” trusses whose bars are pinned together at the vertices of each triangular panel and whose loads are applied only at these pinned joints-are axial, that is, limited to pure tension and pure compression.
