Manual Procedures for Least-Weight Design of King-Post Truss Systems

This paper presents an efficient manual design approach, to obtain a near least-weight design by following prescribed procedures, for the preliminary design of long-span king-post steel truss systems. An innovative simplified analysis model is firstly established, and then the design requirements according to Canadian Standard on Limit States Design of Steel Structures (CSA-S16.1) and American Specification on Load and Resistance Factor Design are formulated. Design examples in North America are presented based on the proposed design procedures. The results of the study suggest that the proposed design method provide an efficient and practical solution for the preliminary design of long-span king-post truss systems.