Is there a way to 'lock' truss members together?
i.e. I have one bottom chord member that goes through multiple nodes (say 1-5), but I want STAAD to think of it as one member from nodes 1-5 instead of four individual pinned members (1-2, 2-3, etc.)
How can I do this?
Do not specify the bottom chord member as a TRUSS member. Define it as a normal member with MY MZ releases applied at the two ends of the bottom chord. Similarly the top chord also should not be specified as TRUSS. You may assign the TRUSS specification only to the members connecting the top and bottom chords.
Everything else seems reasonable except the displacement of that upper cantilever section, where Node 12 is resulting in over 4 1/2 inches
Here is the input file:
STAAD TRUSSSTART JOB INFORMATIONJOB NAME Cherry Avenue BridgeJOB PART Truss System (East shown)ENGINEER NAME CEKENGINEER DATE 17-Jan-20END JOB INFORMATIONINPUT WIDTH 79UNIT FEET KIPJOINT COORDINATES1 0 0 0; 2 22.42 25 0; 3 44.83 26.86 0; 4 67.25 28.72 0; 5 89.67 30.58 0;6 112.08 32.44 0; 7 143 35 0; 8 168.17 39.46 0; 9 188.19 43 0;10 202.13 39.5 0; 11 216.06 36 0; 12 230 23 0; 13 216.06 23 0; 14 202.13 23 0;15 188.19 23 0; 16 171.13 23 0; 17 171.13 0 0; 18 151.5 0 0; 19 134.5 0 0;20 112.08 0 0; 21 89.67 0 0; 22 67.25 0 0; 23 44.83 0 0; 24 22.42 0 0;MEMBER INCIDENCES1 1 2; 2 1 24; 3 24 2; 4 2 3; 5 23 24; 6 3 24; 7 2 23; 8 3 23; 9 3 4; 10 22 23;11 4 23; 12 3 22; 13 4 22; 14 4 5; 15 21 22; 16 5 22; 17 4 21; 18 5 21; 19 5 6;20 20 21; 21 6 21; 22 6 20; 23 19 20; 24 6 7; 25 7 20; 26 7 19; 27 18 19;28 7 18; 29 7 8; 30 7 16; 31 17 18; 32 16 18; 33 8 16; 34 16 17; 35 8 9;36 15 16; 37 9 16; 38 9 15; 39 9 10; 40 14 15; 41 9 14; 42 10 14; 43 10 11;44 13 14; 45 10 13; 46 11 13; 47 11 12; 48 12 13;DEFINE PMEMBER48 44 40 36 PMEMBER 1 START USER TABLETABLE 1 C:\USERS\CKING\DOCUMENTS\1.UPTENDDEFINE MATERIAL STARTISOTROPIC STEEL_36_KSIE 4.176e+06POISSON 0.3DENSITY 0.489024ALPHA 6.5e-06DAMP 0.03G 1.60615e+06TYPE STEELSTRENGTH FY 5184 FU 8352 RY 1.5 RT 1.2ISOTROPIC CONCRETEE 453600POISSON 0.17DENSITY 0.14999ALPHA 5.5e-06DAMP 0.05TYPE CONCRETESTRENGTH FCU 576ISOTROPIC STEELE 4.176e+06POISSON 0.3DENSITY 0.489024ALPHA 6.5e-06DAMP 0.03TYPE STEELSTRENGTH RY 1.5 RT 1.2ISOTROPIC STEEL_50_KSIE 4.176e+06POISSON 0.3DENSITY 0.489024ALPHA 6.5e-06DAMP 0.03TYPE STEELSTRENGTH FY 7200 FU 8928 RY 1.5 RT 1.2END DEFINE MATERIALCONSTANTSMATERIAL STEEL_36_KSI ALLMEMBER PROPERTY AMERICAN2 5 10 15 20 23 27 31 UPTABLE 1 C15X50BTB3 8 13 UPTABLE 1 DBLC12X30FT1 4 9 14 19 24 UPTABLE 1 TOPCHORD6 17 UPTABLE 1 EYEBAR4X7L811 UPTABLE 1 EYEBAR5X13L12 UPTABLE 1 EYEBAR5X7L816 UPTABLE 1 EYEBAR6X1521 UPTABLE 1 4EYEBARS6X118 22 UPTABLE 1 DBLC15X50FT34 UPTABLE 1 2DBLL35MEMBER PROPERTY AMERICAN7 UPTABLE 1 EYEBAR6X175MEMBER PROPERTY AMERICAN39 43 UPTABLE 1 2C10X1137 UPTABLE 1 C15XX4141 UPTABLE 1 EYE1042 46 UPTABLE 1 DL431245 UPTABLE 1 C10BTB17647 UPTABLE 1 C10BTB14636 40 44 48 UPTABLE 1 C15X50S1433 38 UPTABLE 1 2DBLL325 29 35 UPTABLE 1 4EYEBARS61332 UPTABLE 1 BUILTUP3326 28 30 UPTABLE 1 DBLC15X50FTSUPPORTS19 PINNED1 18 FIXED BUT FXMEMBER TENSION 6 7 11 12 16 17 21 25 29 35 41LOAD 1 LOADTYPE Dead TITLE SELF WEIGHTSELFWEIGHT Y -1 LOAD 2 LOADTYPE Dead TITLE DEAD LOAD 2JOINT LOAD18 TO 24 FY -21.842 FY -0.573 FY -14 FY -1.045 FY -1.086 FY -1.27 FY -1.018 FY -0.539 FY -0.8410 FY -0.2111 FY -0.114 FY -0.915 FY -0.91 17 FY -10.9216 FY -0.5712 FY -11513 FY -116LOAD 3 LOADTYPE None TITLE BUS & WS LOAD 3JOINT LOAD1 FY -31.124 FY -25.923 FY -35.922 FY -26.621 FY -35.320 FY -27.219 FY -32.318 FY -19.917 FY -20.6LOAD COMB 4 COMBINATION LOAD CASE 41 1.0 3 1.0 2 1.0 PERFORM ANALYSIS PRINT STATICS CHECKPRINT JOINT DISPLACEMENTS ALLPRINT MEMBER FORCES ALLPRINT SUPPORT REACTIONPRINT ANALYSIS RESULTSLOAD LIST ALLPRINT MEMBER STRESSES ALLFINISH
Please attach 1.UPT file used in your model.
Unit inGeneralC15X4023.594101 15.000000 0.786472 28.539400 0.413361 4314.040039 698.000000 2.920000 302.315002 93.066498 0.000000 0.000000 314.576996 114.236000 4526.009766 13.427100C15x50BTB29.392700 15.000000 0.979757 28.929100 0.508012 5512.980000 808.000000 5.340000 381.099000 107.733000 0.000000 0.000000 398.405000 135.649000 8277.020000 13.040500DBLC15x50BT29.392700 15.000000 0.979757 28.925200 0.508081 3941.700000 808.000000 5.340000 272.480000 107.733000 0.000000 0.000000 336.304000 135.427000 8277.020000 13.040500DBLC12x30FT17.635600 12.000000 0.734818 10.838600 0.813558 407.515000 324.000000 1.740000 75.187100 53.999900 0.000000 0.000000 82.793600 66.950700 2697.010000 10.530400TOPCHORD37.746400 15.500000 1.217630 23.996100 0.786512 2672.110000 1294.960000 2.734080 222.676000 131.661000 0.000000 0.000000 304.379000 199.439000 4237.840000 13.064700EYEBAR4x7l87.000000 4.000000 0.875000 17.748000 0.197205 498.786000 9.333330 1.533550 56.201300 4.666670 0.000000 0.000000 58.985700 7.007870 2377.000000 2.250000EYEBAR6x17521.000000 5.996060 1.751150 19.500000 0.538462 1659.440000 63.000000 17.410300 170.199000 21.000000 0.000000 0.000000 186.442000 31.499900 26986.000000 2.493760EYEBAR5X7l88.750000 5.000000 0.875000 17.748000 0.246506 623.483000 18.229200 1.985840 70.251600 7.291670 0.000000 0.000000 73.732200 10.925200 3078.060000 3.250000EYEBAR5x13l13.750000 5.000000 1.375000 18.748000 0.366705 1039.920000 28.645800 7.134750 110.924000 11.458300 0.000000 0.000000 119.347000 17.175200 11058.900000 2.250000EYEBAR6x1518.000000 5.996060 1.500980 16.003900 0.562362 949.500000 54.000000 11.380500 118.687000 18.000000 0.000000 0.000000 130.414000 27.000000 17639.800000 2.9940904EYEBARS6x124.000000 5.996060 2.001310 20.000000 0.600000 1328.000000 72.000000 7.176000 132.800000 24.000000 0.000000 0.000000 167.843000 36.070800 11122.800000 1.993440DBLC15x50FT29.392700 15.000000 0.979757 12.429100 1.182410 884.817000 808.000000 5.340000 142.345000 107.733000 0.000000 0.000000 157.530000 135.649000 8277.020000 13.04050011DBLC15x5029.392700 15.000000 0.979757 12.929100 1.136690 966.279000 808.000000 5.340000 149.440000 107.733000 0.000000 0.000000 164.829000 135.649000 8277.020000 13.0405004EYEBARS61333.000000 5.996060 2.751810 21.496100 0.767582 2038.440000 99.000000 17.736000 189.622000 33.000000 0.000000 0.000000 242.976000 49.464500 27490.800000 0.492452BUILTUP3356.889500 15.000000 1.896320 21.925200 1.297350 2691.830000 855.539000 11.028200 245.471000 114.072000 0.000000 0.000000 369.461000 159.660000 17093.700000 11.2074002DBLL3512.996800 7.500000 0.866452 7.500000 0.866452 108.373000 36.983300 1.148330 28.899500 9.862190 0.000000 0.000000 35.423300 17.108400 1779.920000 5.7671002DBLL39.717590 6.500000 0.747507 7.622050 0.637466 89.535100 21.196800 0.655833 23.484600 6.522090 0.000000 0.000000 28.508300 11.343300 1016.540000 5.004990DBLC10X153F8.977770 10.000000 0.448889 19.696900 0.227899 767.085000 134.800000 0.420000 77.876600 26.959900 0.000000 0.000000 81.879900 31.635600 651.001000 9.102220C15X50S1429.392700 15.000000 0.979757 21.429100 0.685812 2913.270000 808.000000 5.340000 271.861000 107.733000 0.000000 0.000000 288.916000 135.649000 8277.020000 13.040500c10BTB14614.696400 10.000000 0.734818 20.271700 0.362485 916.273000 182.400000 1.380000 90.397800 36.479900 0.000000 0.000000 114.941000 45.583600 2139.000000 8.530360c10btb17617.635600 10.000000 0.881781 20.563000 0.428820 1108.240000 206.000000 2.460000 107.774000 41.199900 0.000000 0.000000 137.904000 52.629000 3813.010000 8.236440dl431212.996800 8.500000 0.764516 13.500000 0.481362 282.881000 52.919600 1.170110 41.908200 12.451700 0.000000 0.000000 60.241900 20.645200 1813.680000 6.970970eye1010.000000 5.000000 1.000000 16.000000 0.312500 563.333000 20.833300 2.900000 70.416700 8.333330 0.000000 0.000000 75.000000 12.500000 4495.010000 3.000000c15xx4141.392700 15.000000 1.379760 21.925200 0.943953 2522.370000 1033.000000 5.942030 230.017000 137.733000 0.000000 0.000000 319.469000 180.383000 9210.160000 12.2405002C10x1119.235600 10.000000 0.961781 20.724400 0.464081 1215.670000 219.333000 2.463230 117.309000 43.866600 0.000000 0.000000 150.794000 56.563900 3818.010000 8.076440
First of all, you should not be using STAAD TRUSS as a first line in the input file. Instead, STAAD SPACE should be used. Then, Truss specification should be assigned to the web members of the truss only, while top and bottom chords should be a regular non-Truss members. However, this does not make a large difference in the displacements. Even if we do not use Truss specification at all, still the maximum vertical displacement of node 12 is close to 4.5". So it seems that this result is related to something else(differences in member sizes, support conditions, applied loading, etc.).