BEHAVIOR OF METAL-PLATE-CONNECTED TRUSSES WITH SQUARE-END WEBS

Metal-plate-connected trusses are presently fabricated with webs cut t o produce tight joints and approximately equal panel lengths on the to p and bottom chords. This paper evaluates the structural feasibility o f replacing these custom-cut webs with webs that have square end cuts and come in a few standard ''commodity'' lengths. A computer model was developed to simulate the behavior of trusses with square-end webs an d its performance was verified by comparison with data from full-scale truss tests. The model and the test data showed that moments in chord s and webs were affected by the presence of square-end webs, raising t he possibility that higher grade chords and/or webs could be required. The square ends themselves have less effect on member forces when the web length is such that panel lengths are approximately equal. Althou gh plate buckling did not directly cause failure of any of the trusses tested or modeled, we believe that plate buckling should be treated a s a truss failure mode for design purposes. Given this limitation and the narrow scope of this study, we believe that the use of square-end webs is feasible from a structural viewpoint.