2.1.

9 Truss Design POE Block 2

Steven Szostak
12/09/2015

Jacob Landoll
Balasubramanian Parthasarathy
Ryan Sze

Problem Statement
I was tasked to make simple truss to help me learn about trusses, I was given a design and
one class block to complete. I tried to pay lots of attention to the glue and support angles,
thinking that the gussets were not that important. We were limited to 36 inches of balsa wood

and small specific paper gusset less than square inch in size. Half of the class was given a square
and triangle truss and the other half was assigned a triangle truss. The idea was to see who could
make the their test trus the strongest. Naturally the square and triangle combination trusses were
stronger. After the test truss we were tasked to design a roof truss that performs better than test
trusses, based on tests and research we will choose a design. Then we will observe the
performance of joints, members, gussets and supports in trusses and see how construction affects
performance. Later we will interpret our results and provide reasons for the performance of our
truss, good or bad and from our test results we will learn and understand why trusses are used for
terms of efficiency and strength,. All the while working in a team using tools such as group
norms and a decision matrix. We were limited with our materials, we were only allowed 36
inches of balsa wood, glue, paper and our imagination. Also the gussets we used in our final
design could not be bigger than the gussets in the test truss. The dimensions that our truss had to
fit in [ Span (width) less than or equal to 6 inches; Haight less than or equal to 4 inches]. To
evaluate and see if our truss performed better than the test truss we used the equation E=F/W.
Test Truss
When we tested our truss I was anxious and thought we would be the best in the class, I
thought this because I put so much detail into gluing the supports together and making sure it
was level on its side. As the machine started to push force onto our truss, the truss already started
to weaken, breaking at around 23 lbs at one spot on the bottom right corner. It broke here
because of a loose gussets, which is not where i expected it to break. I expected it to break on the
midpoint of support A. I learned that when you make something to support a large load you
should take your time and make sure every connection is measured properly and that their
connection is reinforced by a strong gusset. I also learned that the thicker your supports the larger
the load that the truss can support, when I started the test truss I did not think that gussets had
that big an effect on the strength of the truss but now seeing that one suport broke where a gusset
was too small I have changed my mind. My test truss did not produced a graph, so I do not have
one to show you. Our test truss had a 2464% efficiency. I don't have a picture of where it broke

but I do have the MDSolids data and the dimensioned sketch (below).

Research Results
To choose our design for the final roof truss I had to do some research, during the
research I felt like the trusses I was seeing on my screen were the most popular and that they
would be chosen by other groups. When I researched on different websites I found several
trusses but all of them had the same basic design, two supports at the top of the triangle and a
long base support. The strongest trusses I found were mostly King and Queen Post Trusses, other
trusses were stronger but the were too complicated for our time frame. The sources I used for my
research werent exactly a MIT review of the roof trusses. The resources I used were actually a
roof design company who design roof for buildings and I found this helpful and trustworthy
because of their knowledge and expertise in the subject. Most other websites that gave me
information were blogs or chat rooms that responded to people's questions about trusses and
other things engineering related. The sources I used told me the differences between the king
post truss and the queen post truss, the trouble I had with research was the perfect proportions to
a roof truss with a 7 base. I wanted to find out what the strongest dimensions would be for our
amount of wood, unfortunately such a website did not present itself.

Design Idea
My design Idea was based of the King Post Truss design, my addition to the King Post
Truss was the extra added supports. I designed my truss to have a base of 7 inches to support a
high load and i wanted the roof truss to be as close to an equilateral triangle as possible. The total
length of the material used was 24.57 inches long.

Decision Process

My team mates researched roof truss design just as I had, it turned out that me and
another team member had the same design idea but with different dimensions. That team mate
and I both chose a King Post Truss design, mine was not as wide as his, aside from the
dimensions our trusses were closely similar. The advantage to our truss was the complexity,
material usage and the geometric stability, the combination of these attributes gave us a lead in
the design matrix. The disadvantage to our design was the size, our kingpost truss was bigger
than the other proposed truss designs. The advantage to Ryans truss was its was very strong,
spreading of the load, and the short build time. The disadvantage to ryans design was it was
complicated, vertically challenged, challenge to build and it had difficult joints. The advantage to
Jacobs design was the short build time, simplicity to build and its strength. The disadvantages to
his design was is inefficiency as a structure, complicated design and parts of the structure did not
bear load. The advantage to Balas design were its load bearing ability, simplicity, efficient
structure and its short build time. The disadvantages to his design was the difficulty to build
some joints, and some measurements needed to be adjusted.

Official Test
When we tried our truss in the test machine we fared well and reached a total of 40 lbs, at
that point out truss broke in three places and two gusset store and one gusset folded. The
supports that broke were caused by a lack of adhesion and poor gusset reinforcement. The
gussets tore because of the tension brought on by the test machine. The one gusset that bent and
do not tear was because of the support that bent which do not add tension to the gussets which
pinched it together instead tearing it apart. All three breaks in the truss were in the bottom left
corner of the truss.
SSA Graph

MDSolids Graph

Truss before breaking

Truss after breaking

Teamwork
Ryan Sze
As a team member Ryan performed well. He was helpful with the truss building and ideas.
Going off of our group norms I did not feel that Ryan respected me, my thoughts, and my
opinions. For example at times during planning Sze jumped to conclusions, and assumed I was
not helping. When I was looking for a credible source website to cite I was accused of looking
for a different truss design, he must have thought I was trying to change ours. I did not feel that
Ryan respected me which might have made him think I was up to no good, this led to Ryan again
accusing me and arguing an irrelevant point that we were actually in agreement with,
professional behavior. Back to the respect I felt that I was pushed to the side by Ryan, this is not
an effective form of communication which at times made me slightly fall behind, while the team
bus kept driving away. Ryan could most certainly work on his teamwork, for example when we
were building the truss Ryan would take over a task and shut off everyone, and when we
suggested a better way of doing something Ryan tended to fight back as if we were out to get
him. He did a great job of getting straight to work on the build day and this definitely sped up the
process. Ryan did his share of the work and his balsa wood cutting skills were much appreciated.
He inconsistently followed the group norms sometimes there would be mini feuds, as an
engineer Ryan did a great job, as a team member Ryan has room for improvement.
Jacob Landoll
As a team member Jacob took charge of MDSolids and the design dimensions. His ideas and
willingness for suggestions, was very helpful. This was good because we knew Jacob was open
to suggestions and we suggested ideas to Jake and they did help. Because of his willingness to
suggestions we made a simple easy to build roof truss. This being said Jacob did his fair share of
the work with ease, sometimes he would take over a bit. He also followed the group norms pretty
well, which contributed well to the group nicely because of the little conflict. When we were
deciding on a design to make when both Balas design and my design were so similar he
correctly followed the group norms and resolved the conflict by voting. Jacob almost always had
a smile on his face and that is a good thing to have when you are working as a team Jacob did a
great job and I truly appreciated his effort to the group.

Balasubramanian Parthasarathy
Bala and I researched the same brainstorm design, which helped speed up the design process.
Bala helped the design by adding two extra gussets which definitely improved the roof truss

structure. Bala followed the group norms quite well, at times he was a little quiet, that being said
he could work on communication a little more. He did not mind suggestions and criticism from
other team members so Bala worked very well with the team. He did his fair share of the work
but I think he would have liked to be a bigger part of the build. Bala respected the group
members and did a great job of staying neutral if there was a mini argument. What I liked most
about Balas role in our group was his teamwork, he was always willing to help out and when he
had something to say it was relevant and beneficial to the task at hand.
Reflection
I think that the support broke where it did because of a lack of adhesion and poor gusset
reinforcement. What also contributed to the break was the lengths of the supports, meaning that
the supports were not absolutely perfect in measurement and cut angle. Because of this there was
added tension when the truss was at rest. All three breaks in the truss were in the bottom left
corner of the truss, which is where our calculations reported the most stress. In addition, the one
gusset that bent and did not tear was because of the support that bent which do not add tension to
the gussets which pinched it together instead tearing it apart.
If we were to redesign our truss after testing I would change the design into a Triple
Howe truss because that has the most supports and it holds the POE record for of the highest load
supported by a balsa wood roof truss. But not only would I change the design, I would make
the gussets double layered and I wouldnt hesitate to go heavy on the glue. With these added
reinforcement I would surely have a new stronger truss.