Forensic investigation of the collapse of a metal truss structure

Recent dramatic collapses of temporary demountable entertainment structures lead to a particular attention to their design and construction. In this study, frequent errors (e.g. errors in the structural design, human errors during construction) have been taken into account in the entire design and construction process of an metal truss entertainment structure. The aim is to investigate which errors compromise mostly the structural safety, and in addition, to evaluate those that have the primary influence on the global structural response. By means of nonlinear FEM analyses, a back analysis of the collapse of a metal truss structure is developed, leading to results that highline the possible causes that led to the structural collapse.