In structural engineering, finding the latest and greatest materials and designs can be enticing. However, the innovations that are most reliable and largest breakthroughs are often the innovations that are improved the most from their original design. The Pratt Truss, or the N-Truss, is a great example of these innovations.
If you have ever worked with, or even if you have just observed, a steel and beam warehouse, a warehouse with a train bridge, or a large industrial warehouse with a beam and truss system with a large roof, you will have seen the Pratt or N-Truss system. The system consists of top and bottom chords which are parallel, overlapping, and are connected by vertical and diagonal web members, which causes the N-Truss system design to be repeated in a large span truss.
Why Engineers Trust the Pratt/N-Truss System
Because of the design , the geometry and behavior of the members of a truss system is predictable, which is why engineers trust the N-Truss system.
Because the system is structured so that loads can travel the members in the system, each individual member is free of bending stress.
In a large structural system, it is important to not only achieve the required loads and stresses, but to also minimize the weight of each of the individual components of the system. The N-Truss system achieves that by decomposition of the stresses and loads.
Prefabrication Friendly: Builders can easily manufacture and assemble the components and elements of the N-truss off-site. Since the components and elements are modular and repetitive, they can be manufactured and assembled off-site, decreasing the time and labor costs associated with on-site assembly.
More Than Just a Support System
The N-truss also has the benefit of making a fit-out easier. This truss can span large distances without the need for intermediate trusses or columns. Large, open spaces are a feature of many industrial and commercial facilities.
The construction industry also has the added benefit of creating less material waste and reducing off-cuts which are discarded into landfills. The N-truss uses factory-based manufacturing and precise, step-by-step construction, creating almost no waste by putting components and elements exactly where they are required.
The Bottom Line
The N-truss shows that design for large commercial construction projects can be simple and easy to use, while still providing an economically stable and efficient system that can be relied upon to help finish a project with the required functional performance and structural support.
Using the N-truss is geometry-based construction design which helps complete projects within the time and budget constraints. It is a design that helps ensure a project is built correctly the first time.