Study on Behaviour of a Composite Space Truss Analytically

A three Dimensional (3D) space truss structural member is used to transfer the force in 3D manner. The space truss is unstable and brittle in nature. Due to over loading, the buckling of one member may cause the subsequent failure in other members. This may even leads to collapse the entire structure. The slab will reduce the buckling in the chord member and to increase the stiffness. In this study a composite space truss model was created in Hyper Mesh-a FEM software using P ROD and P SHELL elements and its deflection values were obtained. Various design parameters such as grade of concrete, slab thickness, steel module sizes for truss members were incorporated in the software and the deflection values were found. Finally the optimum slab thickness for different grades of concrete and module size of steel truss by weight optimization and deflection criteria were found.