truss

thumb|Truss bridge for a single-track railway, converted to pedestrian use and pipeline support. In this example the truss is a group of triangular units supporting the bridge. thumb|Typical detail of a steel truss, which is considered as a revolute joint thumb|Historical detail of a steel truss with an actual revolute joint A truss is an assembly of members such as beams, connected by nodes, that creates a rigid structure.

In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assemblage as a whole behaves as a single object". A two-force member is a structural component where force is applied to only two points. Although this rigorous definition allows the members to have any shape connected in any stable configuration, architectural trusses typically comprise five or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes.