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Hello Sean,
Simple mindset question to understand how to think fast forward ;
In this previous example at video 25., you solved the first joint on the left and jumped to first joint on the right. However, in this video (26. video) you did not prefer that although again there are 2 unknowns.
What was the main reason you choose not to do that ?
Was it just a personal preference at that time or was there something in a way that we can call forward thinking and being practical ?
Cheers,
Burak
Hey @m.burakcakir33 - so my approach is always to start calculating reactions. Once this is done, I survey the structure and if there are zero force bars I’ll mark those on. Then I try and identify as many viable starting nodes as I can…so anywhere where there is no more than 2 unknowns. If there is a node with only one unknown I start there (path of least resistance usually!). But beyond that, there’s no deeper strategy to it.
One thing I’ll add though is that you should keep an eye out for symmetry - if you have a symmetrical structure with symmetrical loading, that will mean you only need to solve half the structure and you can mirror the forces across the line of symmetry.
Seán