Some Design Aspects Peculiar to Space Trusses

This paper considers some aspects of structural design that are largely peculiar to the design of space truss systems, in particular double-layer systems, although the design aspects considered may overlap with conventional structural design as well. The aspects covered herein are joint design, force distributions in space trusses, lack of fit of members, sensitivity to type of compression chord failure, failure mechanisms, possible welding defects in joints, and the use of laboratory models as indicators of real behaviour. Because of the nature of space trusses, with hundreds, if not thousands, of members with a relatively high degree of interaction, their structural design presents its own peculiarities that fall outside conventional structural design. Special attention needs to be given to these topics.