| 摘要 |
<p>A pipe-and-ball truss array comprising a plurality of truss members which each comprise an outer hollow pipe and an inner rod running through the pipe along the longitudinal axes thereof, and a hollow spherical member common to the plurality of truss members, which truss members are joined to the spherical member by bolting. The outer pipe bears against the exterior surface of the spherical member and the inner rod extends beyond the ends of the outer pipe and through an aperture in the sphere into the interior thereof. The ends of the inner rod are threaded and a nut is threadably mounted thereon within the interior of the sphere and tightened so as to simultaneously place the inner rod element of the truss member in tension and the outer hollow pipe element of the same truss member in compression whereby applied tensile, compressive and axial forces are transferrable between the plurality of joined truss members through the spherical member. In order to allow for different compressive or tensile loads within the structure, the truss members may have a different outer or inner diameter for the outer hollow pipe depending on the compressive load to be carried by the particular truss member or the inner rod may have a different diameter dependent on the tensile load to be carried by the particular truss member or any combination thereof dependent on the loads to be carried by the various truss members. If desired, the spherical member may comprise two hemispheres which are joined together, such as by bolting, or may comprise a substantially unitary sphere. The truss array may be a two dimensional space truss or a three dimensional space frame constructed from a plurality of interconnected truss modules.</p> |
