Joint Flexibility Effects on Rectangular Hollow Section Vierendeel Trusses

An elastic-strain hardening material characteristic is used with the finite element method to model the behavior of Vierendeel trusses that consist of flexible branch-to-chord connections. Both chord and branch members are presumed to be rectangular hollow sections (RHS) of unequal width. Analyses have been undertaken on truss configurations consisting of either single member or double member chords placed back-to-back. Joint characteristics obtained from an earlier study are used to model the effects of flexible connections on truss load capacity and stiffness. The findings indicate that it is important to strive for high branch end moment and stiffness properties to achieve satisfactory structural performance of a girder. Punching shear effects are much less important. It is also shown that double chord trusses outperform their single chord equivalents, unless stiffening plates are employed to help achieve comparable end moments of branch members.