A Knowledge-based Expert System for Design of Roof Trusses

Aknowledge-based expert system has been developed for design of roof trusses, called RTEXPERT, which automatically generates all the nodal forces due to various loads in Turbo Pascal.

Abstract

Aknowledge‐based expert system has been developed for design of roof trusses, called RTEXPERT. RTEXPERT can advise the user on the appropriate type of the roof truss, selection of the layout of the truss (such as the pitch of the truss and number of panels), and the loading. The basis of design is the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) specification. The truss is designed for dead, live, snow, and wind loads in accordance with the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) specification. A novel part of RTEXPERT is the automatic computation of nodal forces due to various loads. The user needs to indicate only the types of the materials used as roof covering and the location of the structure in the United States. RTEXPERT automatically generates all the nodal forces. The knowledge base and explanation facility of RTEXPERT have been developed using INSIGHT 2 + expert system shell. The mathematical computations, graphic algorithms, and data file manipulation routines have been developed in Turbo Pascal. RTEXPERT has a comprehensive graphic interface for displaying the truss configuration, cross sections, loading, and deformed shape. Information about individual members is presented through multi‐window graphicstext displays. RTEXPERT can be used as an “intelligent assistant” for design of roof trusses.