The Physics Of Trusses

• Hammer Beam

These results were quite surprising to see that with a hammer beam truss, the center wants to fall in on itself. Ax is facing outwards rather than inwards as it did on the box frame truss. Yet, the smallest component of a hammer beam, the collar tie at the top bears nearly the entirety of the force to ensure that the truss doesn't fall in on itself. What amazes me even more is that there are some hammer beams that remove this collar tie and replace it with a king post. Lastly, I did not expect a zero force member to be a knee brace. However, upon further inspection it makes sense as it is there to hold the weight of the beam that only transfers force in the x direction. Overall, this truss, though aesthetically pleasing, is only utilitarian in that if the span is too wide for a square beam to span a hammer beam can be used to ensure that smaller beams span the distance.