INTRODUCTION

Truss is a formation produced by triangular components, in accordance with the truss bridge

drawings, and coupled at joints known as nodes. The triangular units forming the truss are slim

and straight in form. The truss bridges consist of a grouping of triangles that are manufactured

from straight and steel bars, according to the truss bridge designs. The solid arms of the triangle

are extended from the pier sides. The diagonal steel tubes project from the bottom and top of each

pier, and assist in holding the arms in the correct position. Trusses are organized as straight

elements that are connected at the ends by hinges to develop a secure arrangement. russ bridge

construction is initiated with a detailed soil analysis to determine suitability for the bridge and

traffic loads. The truss bridge is designed with either the road being at the truss bottom, or

alternatively with the road being at the truss top. The former design has the bridge elements under

compression, while the elements of the later design are mostly under tension. The bridge materials

are selected and either welded or bolted, according to the requirement. The concrete is poured in

the abutments, with the anchor bolts firmly inserted. Finally, the trusses are built, and the bridge

is ready for use.

Pratt trusses is applied in this workshop. The basic form of Pratt truss includes triangular truss

design whose diagonal members slope toward the center of the bridge. When under load, this

design makes diagonal members feel tension (the force that expands the object apart), while

vertical members feel suspension (the force that pushes objects into one self). If the diagonal

members are made from the solid material (such as metal bars), the heavy load of the bridge may

cause the need for implementing reinforcements to the center area of the Pratt truss bridge, since

that part of the bridge will experience the strongest force loads. Those center areas can be

reinforced with stronger materials, or be subdivided into K or Y-shaped patterns. Pratt truss
bridges are statically determinate (all of its support reactions and member forces can be calculated

using only the equations of static equilibrium), which made them capable for use in scenarios

where bridge designers needed to span great distances.

Figure 1: Pratt Truss

OBJECTIVE

 Learn to mesh line geometry to generate CBAR elements

 Become familiar with setting up the CBAR orientation vector and section properties

 Learn to set up multiple load cases

 Learn to view the different CBAR stress components in Patran

PROBLEM STATEMENT

 We are asked to evaluate the structural integrity of this bridge truss with given value

 Steel with E = 30 X 106 psi (206.8 GPa)

 Poisson Ratio, v = 0.3

 I-Beam with dimension : H = 18 in, W = 12 in, Tf= 0.5 in, and Tw= 0.5 in

Figure 2: I-beam

 The bridge needs to be able to support a 23,000 lb. truck traveling over it. The truck weight

is supported by two planar trusses. Model one planar truss with half the truck weight

applied to it.

 One end of the truss is pinned while the other end is free to slide horizontally.
 Table 1: Bridge Truss Coordination for Plotting

METHODOLOGY

1. Create new database.

2. Create geometry model of the truss using the table given.

3. Use mesh seeds to define the mesh density.

4. Create a finite element mesh.

5. Define material properties.

6. Create physical properties using the beam library.

7. Create boundary conditions.

8. Create loads.
 9. Set up load cases.

10. Run the finite element analysis using MD Nastran.

11. Displacements and stresses were plotted.

RESULTS

Figure 3: Mid Span Bar Stresses X-Component

Figure 4: Truss Joint Bar Stresses X-Component

Figure 5: Mid Span Bar Stresses Maximum

Figure 6: Truss Joint Bar Stresses Maximum Combined

Figure 7: Mid Span Displacement

 Figure 8: Truss Joint Displacement

Result for case 1 (mid span): Bar Stresses X-Component

Maximum: 7.14E002 psi (4.923 MPa) at Element 33.1

Minimum: -7.45E002 psi (-5.14 MPa) at Element 17.1

Result for case 2 (truss joint): Bar Stresses X-Component

Maximum: 5.63E002 psi (3.88 MPa) Element 33.1

Minimum: -8.29E002 psi (-5.72 MPa) Element 15.1

Result for case 1 (mid span): Bar Stresses Maximum Combined

Maximum: 3.99E003 psi (27.5 MPa) at Node 48

Minimum: -7.11E002 psi (-4.90 MPa) at Node 26

Result for case 2 (truss joint): Bar Stresses Maximum Combined

Maximum: 7.51E002 psi (5.18 MPa) at Node 50

Minimum: -7.50E002 psi (-5.17 MPa) at Node 23

Result for case 1 (mid span): Displacement

Maximum: 1.01E-001 inches (25.65 mm) at Node 48

Result for case 2 (truss joint): Displacement

Maximum: 6.35E002 inches (16129 mm) at Node 9

DISCUSSION

Bar X- Component stress vs. Bar Combined Stress?

Result Cases bar x-segment pressure. When we select one, a lower frame will show up enabling

us to set scale factors and select the outcomes to hold in the new join result. Keep on selecting all

the outcome cases you wish to consolidate. They will all show up in the other shape. On the off

chance that we commit an error basically deselect the outcome case. The averaging was done over

the segments of the tensor just and the inferred comes about were put away as a tensor.

Load Case 1 Vs. Load Case 2, Justification?

We can observe maximum stress when is load applied at mid-span which is indicate that load case

2 is higher compare to load case 1 ,when load is applied at the truss-joint. As for minimum stress,

mid-span shows even less stress than the truss joint. This apply when load is applied at mid-span

shows even larger value, then we must consider it when designing. Its lead to less support from

truss, when load is applied at the mid-span compared to when the load is applied at truss joint.

Value of stresses at mid-span is higher because of this solid reason.

Which load case is to be considered for failure and why?

Load case 2 because the displacement is too high.

Is there failure? (Failure if max Stress>= Yield, fracture or design stress)

No failure as all stresses are less than yield stress.

What are the safety margins of the models? (Safety margin = (max stress)/ (failure or design

stress) *100

Safety margin = (4.923 MPa / 250 MPa) *100 =1.96% (safe)-Example calculation of one stresses

value

As per factor of safety, the truss bridge is safe in term of stress even the maximum combined stress

is low comparing with 250 MPa which is the yield stress of steel.

What are the idealizations and assumption made in analysis?

Assumption that I made throughout this workshop is, that we can analysis the bridge truss design

by calculating the maximum stress that can be applied and tendency of failure due to high load and

the maximum bending load.

For this problem what are the advantages of using Beam element instead of:

a. Solid element: Support only translational DOF.

b. Bar/ Rod element: Truss elements transmit force axially only and are 3 DOF

elements which allow translation only and not rotation. Beam elements are 6 DOF

elements allowing both translation and rotation at each end node.

CONCLUSIONS

As a conclusion, we learned how to set up multiple load to the bridge truss. Other than that, as a

future engineer, we learned the importance that need to consider when designing a bridge. Last not

least, we achieved all objective of workshop 3.

REFERENCES

1. Mechanics of Material, Seventh Edition in SI units, R.C Hibbler, PEARSON Prentice Hall

2. Lab sheet

3. Class lecturing