Starred angles supporting secondary trusses
In some large industrial buildings, it is common to span large areas by using primary trusses in one direction and secondary trusses in the other. The secondary trusses frame into the vertical web members in the primary trusses. Starred angles are frequently used as the vertical web members in the primary trusses because of their symmetrical cross section and the ease with which the connections can be made. These starred angles are usually designed as axially loaded members, but the open nature of the cross section and the fact that the secondary truss frames into one of the angles has raised some doubts about this loading assumption. As a result of this concern, an experimental research program was undertaken to investigate the behaviour and strength of starred angle web members supporting secondary trusses. The results obtained indicate that these starred angle compression members are not concentrically loaded, as the stress distribution across the angles is not uniform. It was found that if the slenderness ratio is modified in accordance with the requirements of ASCE Manual 52, the load-carrying capacity of the starred angles supporting secondary trusses can be determined using Clause 13.3.1 of CAN3-S16.1-M84. Key words: angles (starred), buckling, columns (structural), connections, trusses.