A box truss is a structure composed of three or more ''chords'' connected by transverse and/or diagonal structural elements.
Application
Box trusses are commonly used in certain types of
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
s, electric power pylons, large
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
antennas
In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an ...
, and many
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
structures. (For various truss arrangements used see
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
.)
By using what are in effect stiff panels in a cylindrical arrangement the resulting structure can have a high resistance to axial torsion (twisting along its long axis) and a higher resistance to buckling in its highly loaded sides.
When finished as an open structure the truss will be less subject to wind drag and to aeroelastic effects than would a completely enclosed structure.
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Structural system