and a member can be either in tension or in compression. It is important for engineers to be able to determine the axial force in the members of a truss, so that they can be designed appropriately.

is in compression and member (2) is in tension. The relative magnitudes of the member loads is found from simple trig (also for the FBD of joint C). The truss shown above is INDETERMINATE. Both ...

The principal parts of the main-span truss are of silicon steel With ... capable of dealing with tension and compression specimens up to 50 ft. long and bend test specimens 20 ft.