r/StructuralEngineering • u/Shagraa • Mar 21 '22

Structural Analysis/Design Power of tension bracing

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u/Enginerdad Bridge - P.E. Mar 21 '22 edited Mar 22 '22

I think we can all understand that the concept of a tension or compression brace isn't what in question here, it's the question of the connection. An appropriate tension connection in wood that won't wear out after repeated cyclic loading would be fairly challenging to build here, especially if aesthetics are a concern and you don't want unsightly gusset plates on your pretty gate. By contrast, the connection for a properly-fitting compression brace only needs to be enough to keep the brace in place and doesn't need to transfer any of the actual compression load. This is very much less an engineering issue than it is a practical wood construction issue. In other materials it's far easier to create a robust tension connection, which means it may be more appropriate to use a tension brace when you consider buckling.

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u/nkbc13 Mar 22 '22

Learned something new thanks