About Truss and Beams

About Truss and Beams

Truss is a structure of connected elements forming triangular units, and a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss is a truss bridge. The truss members like chords, verticals, and diagonals act only in either tension or compression. Short-span truss bridges are built as simply supported, while the large span truss bridges are generally built as continuous supported.

Beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis. The loads applied to the beam result in reaction forces at the beam's support points. The total effect of all the forces acting on the beam is to produce shear forces and bending moment within the beam, that in turn induce internal stresses, strains and deflections of the beam.