A Retrospective Analysis of the Evolution of Pratt Trusses in Indiana
AbstractA simple method is presented to carry out a retrospective analysis to examine the development of load-bearing structures. The idea is to eliminate the differences coming from technological changes (such as joints, profiles, loads) by using relative numbers to express the relation of the structures to the possible theoretical solutions under the same circumstances. The method is demonstrated by investigating the impact of historical changes focusing on metal Pratt trusses spanning about 100 ft, located in Indiana, U.S., erected between 1870 and 1937. Data of 87 structures was collected and compared to the results of a multi-objective optimisation computed using a genetic algorithm. Using the relative numbers acquired by evaluating the objective functions for the historical structures, a large time-scale optimisation process through history can be visualised. Plotting them on the Pareto-front diagram determined by the genetic algorithm and examining the historical background of the state revealed that the economic and industrial changes, in fact, had a considerable impact on the design trends, which manifests in changes of the weights of the objective functions.
truss evolution, Pratt truss, Pareto-front, truss bridge
Published in Onlinefirst
How to Cite
FEHÉR, Eszter; BARANYAI, Tamás. A Retrospective Analysis of the Evolution of Pratt Trusses in Indiana. Periodica Polytechnica Architecture, [S.l.], v. 48, n. 1, p. 58-64, 2017. ISSN 1789-3437. Available at: <https://pp.bme.hu/ar/article/view/10612>. Date accessed: 25 feb. 2018. doi: https://doi.org/10.3311/PPar.10612.