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How Fink Trusses Work

The 30-foot wide Fink truss has a 5/12 pitch, with top and bottom chords divided into equal lengths. Loads include roof live at 25 lb/ft2, roof dead at 15 lb/ft2, and ceiling dead at 10 lb/ft2. Angles and lengths of members are calculated using trigonometric functions. Forces on members are then determined by considering load distribution and resolving forces at each joint into tension and compression components. Member forces range between 600 lbs of compression on the bottom chord to over 2600 lbs of compression on the top chord web members.

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Mansi Patel
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939 views4 pages

How Fink Trusses Work

The 30-foot wide Fink truss has a 5/12 pitch, with top and bottom chords divided into equal lengths. Loads include roof live at 25 lb/ft2, roof dead at 15 lb/ft2, and ceiling dead at 10 lb/ft2. Angles and lengths of members are calculated using trigonometric functions. Forces on members are then determined by considering load distribution and resolving forces at each joint into tension and compression components. Member forces range between 600 lbs of compression on the bottom chord to over 2600 lbs of compression on the top chord web members.

Uploaded by

Mansi Patel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How Fink Trusses Work:

Consider the 30’ wide Fink truss sloped a 5/12 pitch

The outer members are named top and bottom


chords and the inner members are named the web.

Note: top and bottom chords are divided into equal


lengths.

1. Calculate all angles and lengths necessary to build the truss.


2. Each truss is responsible for a 2 foot section through the roof as trusses are typically placed 24” apart and thus
must carry 12” on either side.
Calculate the tension and compression forces on each member given the load requirements below.

Design loads:

a. Roof Live load = 25 lb/ft2


b. Roof Dead load= 15 lb/ft2
c. Ceiling Dead load = 10 lb/ft2

Note: Live load on the roof is snow


load and dead loads are roofing on
the top chord and drywall on the
ceiling.
Solution for How Trusses Work:
1. Angle and Length Solutions:
Given: AD = 30 feet = 360 inches

(1) AB = BC = CD = 120” … as AD is divided into equal lengths based on the design of the truss
5
(2) θ = tan−1 ( ) ≈ 22.62𝑜 … since the slope of the top chord is 5/12 and considering right ΔAFH
12
180
(3) AF ≈ 195” … 𝑐𝑜𝑠(22.62) = 𝐴𝐹
(4) AG = GF ≈ 97.5” … as AF is divided into equal lengths based on the design of the truss
(5) GB ≈ 48.02” … law of cosines ΔABG
(6) <AGB ≈ 106.04o … law of sines ΔABG
(7) <GBA ≈ 51.34o … law of sines ΔABG
(8) <FGB ≈ 73.96o … supplementary angles
(9) BF ≈ 96.05” … law of cosines ΔFGB
(10) <GFB ≈ 28.72o … law of sines ΔFGB
(11) <GBF ≈ 77.32o … law of sines ΔFGB
(12) <FBC ≈ 51.34o … supplementary angles

Note: this is a gross oversimplification as the members are actually not lines. The bottom chord is a trapezoid, the top
chord is a parallelogram, and the webs are a pentagon and hexagon. A real truss involves calculating all the lengths and
angles in each of these polygons.
2. Compression and Tension Solutions:
Loading the Truss:
The bottom chord is 30 feet long and carries a 2 foot wide section of the ceiling weighing 10 lbs/ft2. So it must carry
600 lbs, evenly distributed along its length which results in the forces shown at joints A, B, C, and D.

The top chord spans 16.25 feet and carries a 2 foot wide section of the roof weighing 40 lbs/ft2. So it must carry
2600 lbs, evenly distributed along its length which results in the forces shown at joints A, G, F, E, and D.

The entire truss then must carry 3200 lbs and thus the walls at A and D must each push up at 1600 lbs. This will
result in A being forced up at 1175 lbs which member AG alone must resist.

Trusses are then analyzed by looking at each joint and finding the force that each associated member must endure
to ensure the joint does not move. The angular nature of the members can be resolved into horizontal and vertical
components to simplify the calculations.
Calculating the Forces on the Truss:
Note: (T) = tension force … a force that would stretch a member, thus a member in tension will pull away from
a joint, resisting the stretch it is experiencing.

(C) = compression force … a force that would compress a member, thus a member in compression will
push into a joint, resisting the compression it is experiencing.

(1) AG ≈ 3055 lbs (C) … AG*sin(22.6o) = 1175 … AG is the only member that can counter the 1175 lb vertical force at
A
(2) AB ≈ 2820 lbs (T) … AB = 2860*cos(22.6o) … AB is the only member that can counter the horizontal force that AG
exerts on A

Member AG exerts a force of 1175 lbs vertically at G and a force of 2200 lbs horizontally at G which members GF
and GB must work together to counter. Let’s assume members GF and GB are pulling away from G in tension.

Vertically:

GF*sin(22.6o) - GB*sin(51.3o) + 1175 - 650 = 0

Horizontally:

GF*cos(22.6o) + GB*cos(51.3o) + 2820 = 0

Note: GF ≈ -2632.3 & GB ≈ -623.5 … solving the system of horizontal and vertical linear equations (the negatives
indicate my assumption of tension in these members was incorrect)

(3) GF ≈ 2632 lbs (C)


(4) GB ≈ 624 lbs (C)

Member AB exerts a force of -2820 lbs horizontally at B. Member GB exerts a force of 390 lbs horizontally at B
and a force of -487 lbs vertically at B.

(5) BF ≈ 880.3 lbs (T) … BF*sin(51.3o) - 487 - 200 = 0, BF is the only other member that has a vertical influence on B
(6) BC ≈ 1880 lbs (T) … BC + 880.3*cos(51.3o) + 390 - 2820 = 0, considering the horizontal forces at B

Note: symmetry of the truss makes the right side unnecessary to calculate

Note: good as a check to ensure the force at F is also zero: -650 + 2*2632*sin(22.62o) – 2*880.3*sin(51.34o) ≈ 0

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