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CHAPTER 5 – ANALYSIS OF STATICALLY DETERMINATE STRUCTURES

SUBJECT: CE 3132 – STRUCTURAL THEORY

Instructor: Engr. Mary Earl Daryl A. Grio
Term: 1st Semester 2020-2021

5. ANALYSIS OF STATICALLY DETERMINATE STRUCTURES

This chapter will discuss all about statically determinate structures such as trusses, beams and frames
including its stability, determinacy and internal forces both for static and moving loads.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

CO 4. Apply the methods of structural analysis for external and internal actions on various types of structural
systems (statically determinate) to solve for internal stresses due to static and moving loads

CO 5. Predict/qualify and calculate/quantify deflections and the deflected shapes of structures under loading.

Upon successful completion of this chapter, the student should be able to understand the following:

5.1 Overview of Statically Determinate Structures

5.1.1 Internal Axial Forces
5.1.2 Internal Shears
5.1.3 Internal Moments
5.1.4 Qualitative Deflected Shapes
5.2 Trusses
5.2.1 Zero Force Members
5.2.2 Method of Joints
5.2.3 Method of Sections
5.2.4 Graphical Method
5.3 Beams
5.3.1 Shears and Moments using equations
5.3.2 Shears and Moments using areas
5.4 Frames
5.4.1 Shears and Moments
5.5Influence Lines for Beams due to Moving Loads
5.6 Influence Lines for Trusses due to Moving Loads

5.1 Overview of Statically Determinate Structures

https://www.pecivilexam.com/Study_Documents/Struc-Materials-Online/Determinate-analysis.pdf

A statically determinate structure is the one in which reactions and internal forces can be determined
solely from free-body diagrams and equations of equilibrium, independent of the material from which
the structure has been fabricated.
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Structural systems transfer their loading through a combination of elements. This is accomplished by

joining the elements at their intersections, which would form the connections. Each connection is
designed so that it can transfer, or support, a certain type of load. To perform the structural analysis, it is
necessary to be aware of the types of forces that can be resisted, and transferred, at each support
throughout the structure. The support conditions have a great impact on the behavior of the elements
which make up each structural system.

The most common types of connections are: roller; pinned; and fixed. The supports can be located
anywhere along a structural element. They can be formed at the ends, at midpoints, or at any other
intermediate points. The type of support connection determines the type of load that the support can
resist. The diagrams shown in Table 1, illustrates the various representations of each type of support.
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External versus Internal Forces:

Internal forces are produced from the external forces acting on structure members such as
trusses, beams, or columns. Generally, we have three types of internal forces: axial, shear and
moment.

5.1.1 Internal Axial Forces

Axial force, sometimes called 'normal force,' is a compression or tension force that can
cause linear deformation particularly elongation or shortening. 

5.1.2 Internal Shears

Shear force is a force acting in a direction perpendicular to the alignment of the member. 
5.1.3 Internal Moments
Moment force is a force multiplied by its distance from a turning point.
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The number of these components varies in one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-

dimensional cases. Now the questions are: What does each of these components do? How do we
calculate these internal forces?

5.1.4 Qualitative Deflected Shapes

Qualitative Deflected Shape is a rough (usually exaggerated) sketch of the neutral surface
of the structure in the deformed position under the action of a given loading condition. Such
sketches provide valuable insights into the behavior of structures.
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An accurate sketch must satisfy the following rules:

 The curvature must be consistent with the moment curve.
 The deflected shape must satisfy the boundary constraints.
 The original angle at a rigid joint must be preserved.
 The length of the deformed member is the same as the original length of the unloaded
member.
 The horizontal projection of a beam or the vertical projection of a column is equal to the
original length of the member.
 Axial deformations, which are trivial compared to bending deformations, are neglected.

5.2 Trusses
The objective of this section is to develop the analysis of member forces of statically
determinate plane and space trusses. Students are expected to
a. know the definition, use of trusses, and common types of trusses
b. be familiar with the basic assumptions underlying truss analysis
c. determine the number and arrangement of members needed to form internally stable or rigid
plane trusses.
d. define simple, compound and complex trusses
e. identify the equations of condition commonly encountered in plane trusses.
f. establish the classification of plane trusses as statically determinate, indeterminate, and
unstable
g. understand the procedures for the analysis of simple plane trusses by the methods of joints,
method of sections, graphical method.
h. Know how to analyze compound plane trusses
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 Please see separate handout/ppt presentation for the TRUSSES: Introduction

 Please see separate handout/ppt presentation for TRUSSES: Methods of Analysis
Structural Analysis: Stability
https://youtu.be/Oj8hIdXukkE
Stability and Determinacy of Trusses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7rAiqzlanQ

The conditions of static instability, determinacy, and indeterminacy of plane trusses can be
summarized as follows:

where:
m = no. of members
r = no. of reactions
j = no. of joints

The first condition, for the static instability of trusses, is both necessary and sufficient in the
sense that if m < 2j-r, the truss is definitely statically unstable. However, the remaining two conditions,
for static determinacy, m = 2j-r and indeterminacy (m > 2j-r) are necessary but not sufficient conditions.
In other words, these two equations simply tell us that the number of members and reactions is sufficient
for stability. They do not provide any information regarding their arrangement. A truss may have a
sufficient number of members and external reactions but may still be unstable due to improper
arrangement of members and/ or external supports.
In order to validate the criteria, the truss must be stable and act as a single rigid body under a
general system of coplanar loads when attached to the supports. Internally stable trusses must be
supported by at least three reactions, all of which must be neither parallel nor concurrent. If a truss is
internally unstable, then it must be supported by reactions equal in number to at least three plus the
number of equations of condition (3+ec ) and all the reactions must be neither parallel nor concurrent. In
addition, each joint, member, and portion of the truss must be constrained against all possible rigid body
movements in the plane of the truss, either by the rest of the truss or by external supports.
If a truss contains a sufficient number of members, but they are not properly arranged, the truss
is said to have critical form. For some trusses, it may not be obvious from the drawings whether or not
their members are arranged properly. However, if the member arrangement is improper, it will become
evident during the analysis of the truss. The analysis of such unstable trusses will always lead to
inconsistent, indeterminate, or infinite results.

5.2.1 Zero Force Members

https://youtu.be/LAb_ezELQ_Y

Because trusses are usually designed to support several different loading conditions, it is
not uncommon to find members with zero forces in them when a truss is being analyzed for
a particular loading condition. Zero-force members are also added to trusses to brace
compression members against buckling and slender tension members against vibrating. The
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analysis of trusses can be expedited if we can identify the zero-force members by inspection.
Two common types of member arrangements that result in zero-force members are the
following:
1. If only two noncollinear members are connected to a joint that hasno external loads or
reactions applied to it, then the force in both members is zero.
2. If three members, two of which are collinear, are connected to a joint that has no
external loads or reactions applied to it, then the force in the member that is not collinear is
zero.

5.2.2 Method of Joints

https://youtu.be/Evsjp0zKeGw

The following step-by-step procedure can be used for the analysis of statically
determinate simple plane trusses by the method of joints.
1. Check the truss for static determinacy, as discussed in the preceding section. If the
truss is found to be statically determinate and stable, proceed to step 2. Otherwise, end
the analysis at this stage. The analysis of statically indeterminate trusses is in another
chapter.
2. Identify by inspection any zero-force members of the truss.
3. Determine the slopes of the inclined members (except the zero-force members) of the
truss.
4. Draw a free-body diagram of the whole truss, showing all external loads and reactions.
Write zeros by the members that have been identified as zero-force members.
5. Examine the free-body diagram of the truss to select a joint that has no more than two
unknown forces (which must not be collinear) acting on it. If such a joint is found,
then go directly to the next step. Otherwise, determine reactions by applying the three
equations of equilibrium and the equations of condition (if any) to the free body of the
whole truss; then select a joint with two or fewer unknowns, and go to the next step.
6. a. Draw a free-body diagram of the selected joint, showing tensile forces by arrows
pulling away from the joint and compressive forces by arrows pushing into the joint. It
is usually convenient to assume the unknown member forces to be tensile.
b. Determine the unknown forces by applying the two equilibrium equations. A
positive answer for a member force means that the member is in tension, as initially
assumed, whereas a negative answer indicates that the member is in compression. If at
least one of the unknown forces acting at the selected joint is in the horizontal or
vertical direction, the unknowns can be conveniently determined by satisfying the two
equilibrium equations by inspection of the joint on the free-body diagram of the truss.
7. If all the desired member forces and reactions have been determined, then go to the
next step. Otherwise, select another joint with no more than two unknowns, and return
to step 6.
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8. If the reactions were determined in step 5 by using the equations of equilibrium and
condition of the whole truss, then apply the remaining joint equilibrium equations that
have not been utilized so far to check the calculations. If the reactions were computed
by applying the joint equilibrium equations, then use the equilibrium equations of the
entire truss to check the calculations. If the analysis has been performed correctly, then
these extra equilibrium equations must be satisfied.

5.2.3 Method of Sections

https://youtu.be/Svv721BSte0

The following step-by-step procedure can be used for determining the member forces of statically determinate
plane trusses by the method of sections.
1. Select a section that passes through as many members as possible whose forces are desired, but not more
than three members with unknown forces. The section should cut the truss into two parts.
2. Although either of the two portions of the truss can be used for computing the member forces, we should
select the portion that will require the least amount of computational e¤ort in determining the unknown
forces. To avoid the necessity for the calculation of reactions, if one of the two portions of the truss does
not have any reactions acting on it, then select this portion for the analysis of member forces and go to the
next step. If both portions of the truss are attached to external supports, then calculate reactions by
applying the equations of equilibrium and condition (if any) to the free body of the entire truss. Next,
select the portion of the truss for analysis of member forces that has the least number of external loads and
reactions applied to it.
3. Draw the free-body diagram of the portion of the truss selected, showing all external loads and reactions
applied to it and the forces in the members that have been cut by the section. The unknown member forces
are usually assumed to be tensile and are, therefore, shown on the free-body diagram by arrows pulling
away from the joints.
4. Determine the unknown forces by applying the three equations of equilibrium. To avoid solving
simultaneous equations, try to apply the equilibrium equations in such a manner that each equation
involves only one unknown.
5. Apply an alternative equilibrium equation, which was not used to compute member forces, to check the
calculations. This alternative equation should preferably involve all three member forces determined by
the analysis. If the analysis has been performed correctly, then this alternative equilibrium equation must
be satisfied.

5.2.4 Graphical Method

Please see separate handout/ ppt presentation
https://youtu.be/0bkp9jjImDs ; https://youtu.be/2hscip1HoK8