The floor of a bridge will rest on stringer that will be simply sup...

The floor of a bridge will rest on stringer that will be simply supported by transverse floor beams, as in Fig. a. The ends of the beams will be connected to the upper joints of two trusses, one of which is shown in Fig. b. As part of the design of the bridge, it is desired to simulate the effect on this truss of driving a 3-kip truck over the bridge. Knowing that the distance between the truck’s axles is b = 7.5 ft and assuming that the weight of the truck is equally distributed over its four wheels, use computational software to calculate and plot the forces created by the truck in members BH and GH as a function of x for 0 ≤ x ≤ 57.5 ft. From the results obtained, determine a) The maximum tensile force in BH, b) The maximum compressive force in BH, c) The maximum tensile force in GH. Indicate in each case the corresponding value of x. Fig. a Fig. b