Load Capacity of Welded Cold-Formed Trusses: Numerical & Experimental Study

Presentation by Prof. Héctor Marcelo Ruffo, Structural Engineer, Tres e Asesores Estructurales as part of the ATCx AEC 2025 conference.

This work is part of a research project conducted at CECOVI within the Santa Fe Regional Faculty of the National Technological University. The use of trusses designed with cold-formed C-section profiles has gained popularity in the country for small-scale warehouse constructions. This study aims to analyze in detail the connection between bars, particularly when diagonals are welded to the stiffening lip of the chord, forming a solution that is complex to evaluate using traditional analysis methods. Additionally, the solution does not employ auxiliary connection means, such as gusset plates, resulting in eccentricities at the intersection of the bars. The study is conducted using numerical methods with nonlinear analysis, and the results are compared with full-scale joints and beams tests conducted in the large structures laboratory.