Truss
The Truss interface has four distinct purposes:
•
Modeling of trusses, consisting of straight bars carrying only axial forces
•
Modeling of cables and wires
•
As reinforcements, used in conjunction with other physics interfaces
•
For modeling discrete springs and dampers, often added to other physics interfaces
The Truss interface is available in 3D and 2D.
For a truss model, only one geometrical property is needed, the cross-section area. The material model can be linear elastic, elastoplastic or a shape memory alloy. There is also a special material model for creating spring/damper data.
The truss element has no stiffness in the directions perpendicular to its extension. For trusses, this is usually not a problem since they are designed such that each member is stabilized by its neighbors. For cables however, a prestress is necessary to keep them stable.