 KING POST TRUSS

 QUEEN POST TRUSS

 The king post truss consists of the following components:
1. Lower tie beam
2. Two inclined principal rafters
3. Two struts
4. A king-post
 The principal rafters support the purlins.
 The purlins support the closely-spaced common rafters which have the
same slope as the principal rafters.
 The common rafters support the roof covering as usual.
 The spacing of the king-post truss is limited to 3m c/c.
 The truss is suitable for spans varying from 5 to 8 meters.
 The lower, horizontal, tie beam receives the ends of the principal rafters,
and prevents the wall from spreading out due to thrust.
 The king-post prevents the tie-beam from sagging at its center of span.
 The struts connected to the tie beams and the principal rafters in
inclined direction, prevent the sagging of principal rafters.
 Ridge beam is provided at the apex of the roof to provide end support to
the common rafters.
 The trusses are supported on the bed blocks of stone or concrete,
embedded in the supporting walls so that load is distributed to a greater
area.
 The head of each strut is fixed to theprincipal rafter by an oblique
mortise and tenon joint.
 The king-post is provided with spalyed shoulders and feet and is
tenoned into the upper edge of the tie beam for sufficient distance.
 It is further strenghtened by mild steel oe wrought iron strap.
 At its head the king-post joined to the end of the principal rafters by
tenon and mortise joint.
 The joint is secured by means of a three-way wrought iron or mild steel
strap on each side.
 Purlins, made of stout timber, are placed at right angles to the sloping
principal rafters, and are placed at right angles to the sloping rafters and
are secured to them through cogged joints and cleats.
 Cleats, fixed on principal rafter, prevent the purlins from tilting.
 The common rafters maybe connected to eaves board or to pole plate at
the other end.
 Pole plates are horizontal timber sections which run across the tops of
the tie beams at their ends or on the principal rafters near the feet.They
thus run parallel to purlins.
 A queen post truss differs from a king post truss in having two vertical posts, rather
then one.
 The vertical posts are known as queen-posts, the tops of which are connected by a
horizontal piece known as straining beam.
 Two struts are provided to join the feet of each queen post to the principal rafter.
 The queen posts are the tension members.
 The straining beam receives the thrust from the principal rafters, and keeps the
junction in stable position.
 The straining sill is introduced on the tie beam between the queen-posts to
counteract the thrust from inclined struts which are in compression. In absence of the
straining sill, the thrust from the strut would tend to force the foot of the queen-post
inwards.
 Purlins, with cleats, are provided as in the king-post truss. These trusses are suitable
for spans between 8 to 12meters.
 The joint at the head of the queen-post is formed due to the junction of two
compression members( principal rafter and straining beam) and a tension
member(queen post).
 The head of the queen post is made wider, and the head of the principal
rafter and the end of the straining beam are tenoned into it.
 The joint is further strengthened by fixing a 3-way strap of wrought-iron or
steel on each face as shown .
 Similarly ,the feet of the queen-post is widened to receive the tenon of the
inclined strut, forming a single abutment and tenon joint.
 The queen-post the tenons into the tie beam.
 The joint is further strengthened by stirrup straps and bolts.
STEEL TRUSS
 When the span exceeds 10m,timber trusses become heavy and uneconomical.
 Steel trusses are more economical for larger spans.
 However, steel trusses are more commonly used these days,for all spans-small or
large, since they are:
1. More economical
2. Easy to construct or fabricate
3. Fire proof
4. More rigid
5. Permanent.
 Steel trusses are fabricated from rolled steel structural members such as channels,
angles, T-sections and plates.
 Most of the roof trusses are fabricated from angle-sections because they can
resist effectively both tension as well as compression, and their jointing is easy.
 In India, where timber has become very costly, steel trusses have practically
superseded timber trusses.
 Steel trusses maybe grouped in the following categories:
1. Open trusses
2. North light trusses
3. Bow string trusses
4. Arched rib trusses and solid arched ribs
TYPES STEEL TRUSSES
 Steel roof trusses are commonly fabricated from angle sections and plates, though
channel sections and T-sections can be used.
 The roof truss is so designed that the members carry only direct stresses(i.e.,
either compression or tension),and no bending stress are induced.
 A truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with
straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes.
 External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the
nodes and result in forces in the members which are either tensile or compressive
forces.
 The principal rafter as well as the main tie are generally made of two angle sections
placed side by side, while the struts and ties are generally made of single angle
sections.
 The members are joined together by a gusset plate, either through rivets or by
welding.
 When the rivets are used, the minimum pitch should not be less than three
times the rivet diameter, while the maximum pitch is limited to 15cm for
compression members and 20cm for tension members.
 Generally , 15mm diameter rivets are used for smaller spans and 20mm rivets
are used for larger spans.
 At least two rivets should be used at each point.
 Gusset plate should not be less then 6mm,though its thickness is designed on
the basis of forces carried by members to be jointed.
 At the foot of the truss, short angles are fitted on both sides of the gusset
plate, which are connected to the bearing plate..
 The bearing plate is jointed to concrete bed through rag bolts.
 At the apex, suitable ridge section is fitted.
 These steel roof trusses must be painted at intervals to prevent corrosion.
1. The sections comprising of a steel truss are readily available in required
dimensions, resulting in minimum wastage of material
2. Steel trusses are light in weight, and can be fabricated in any shape depending
upon structural and architectural requirements.
3. Steel trusses are stronger and more rigid in comparison to timber trusses. The
members are equally strong in tension as well as compression.
4. Steel trusses can be used over any span, while timber trusses are suitable only
upto 15m span.
5. Steel trusses are fire proof.
6. They are termite proof
7. Steel trusses are most resistant to other environmental agencies, and have
longer life.
8. The fabrication of steel is easier and quicker, since the sections can be
machined and shaped in the workshop, and then be transported to
construction site for erection.
Steel rigid frames Steel tubular and angular trusses

Steel space frames

Steel Open –web joist framing
Angular truss is made up of a
single or double angles acting
as top chord, Bottom chord and
webbing.

For shorter spans single angle trusses are used and the members are welded together

For longer spans trusses double angles are used and are usually bolted or welded to a
gusset plate at the joints
These steel angles can have equal or
un equal sections but uniform thickness
Gusset plates are thick sheets of
steel that are used to connect
beams and girders to columns or
to connect truss members.

It can be fastened to a permanent

member either by bolts, rivets or
welding or a combination of
the three

It not only serves as a method of

joining steel members together
but they also strengthen the joint

Gusset plates are usually square

or rectangular, but can be triangular or made
into a customized shape to fit the joint
The size of the bolts depends up on that of the members to be connected and
vary in diameter from 16 to 20 mm.

The thickness of the gussets theoretically depends up on the bearing value of the
bolts employed and the thickness rarely exceeds 10mm even for very large
trusses.

Struts consists of single or double angles, and either one or two angles are placed
back to back are used for the main tie.
Common types of trusses

Flat truss has parallel top and bottom chord.

These trusses are generally not as efficient as pitched or bowstring trusses

The span range up to 37m (120ft)

Depth ranges from span/10 to span/15
Pratt trusses have vertical web members in compression and diagonal web
Members in tension.
Howe trusses have vertical web members in tension and diagonal web members
in compression
Belgian trusses have only inclined web members.
Fink trusses are Belgian trusses having sub-diagonals to reduce the length of
compression web members toward the centre line of the span.

Diagonals connect a top to bottom chord. Sub-diagonals join a chord

with a main diagonal
Warren trusses have inclined web members forming a series of equilateral
triangles.

Vertical web members are sometimes introduced to reduce the panel length of
the top chord, which is in compression
Warren trusses

Vertical web members are

sometimes introduced to
reduce the panel length of
the top chord, which is in
compression
Bowstring trusses have a curved top chord meeting a straight bottom chord at
each end
Round tubular sections or pipe have
certain advantages in truss connections.

1. good bending resistance

2. good compressive strength
3. good torsional resistance
4. No rusting problem on the inside if they are sealed at the ends by welding
5. Only outside must be painted
6. Experienced fabricators can cut, fit and weld the pipe sections perfectly

Large span tubular trusses are used mainly for factories, large community halls,
warehouses , shopping malls, stadia etc
A space frame or space structure is
a truss-like, lightweight rigid
structure constructed from
interlocking struts in a geometric
pattern.

Space frames can be used to span

large areas with few interior supports.

Like the truss, a space frame is strong

because of the inherent rigidity of the
triangle; flexing loads
(bending moments) are transmitted
as tension and compression
loads along the length of each strut