Gang nails on a wooden truss.

Gang nails on a wooden truss. Image credit naildesignart.biz

ZIMSEC O Level Combined Science Notes:Joining trusses

  • In the real world various techniques are used to join trusses in ways that prevent joints from becoming points of weakness
  • Steel trusses are usually joined by welding them together
  • This ensures that stresses are transmitted equally along the joint
  • A gusset plate can also be used to join two or more members of wooden/metal trusses
  • Gusset plates are thick sheets of steel that are used to connect beams and girders to columns or to connect truss members.
  • A gusset plate can be fastened either by bolts, rivets or welding or a combination of the three
  • Wooden trusses are joined using gang nails seen in the picture above
  • These are steel plates with steel spikes the stick out
  • The increased number of spikes help to evenly spread out the stress at joints
  • Joints in furniture are often a source of weakness
  • This is because they are usually subjected to high tension forces
  • Furniture often starts failing along these joints

To access more topics go to the Combined Science Notes page