Experimental Study of Behavior of New Space Truss System

Although space trusses have been in continuous development since the 1950s, their share in the market of large-span structures is still quite small. Because of being costlier than one-way beam and framed structural alternatives, the use of space trusses has almost been restricted to applications where the trusses' pleasing appearance can justify their high cost. Attempts to address the cost concern of space trusses have resulted in truss systems that do not need node connectors for their assembly, but use continuous chord members directly joined together and with the diagonal members. This technique resulted in a considerable cost cut and was responsible for the relative success of these systems in the economic market. This paper presents a space truss system newly developed with the main objective of achieving a larger reduction in the overall cost of space trusses without compromise in the structural reliability or the common ease of construction. To achieve this goal, the new truss has a simple jointing system that requires no expensive node connectors, and a simple member splicing system that has almost no adverse effect on the truss's performance. The paper includes an introduction to the system's features and an experimental assessment of the claim that the new jointing system of the truss does not entail any compromise in its structural efficiency or reliability.