Elements are the bars that make up the truss. A truss element is the simpliest type of Finite Element there is and it is the only element where each element comprises an entire structural member.
Chosing Elements from the Model menu brings up the Element Edit dialog:
This dialog shows the possible choices of node numbers, one for each end of the element, Node 1 and Node 2, and MPset numbers. Each end of the element must be connected to different nodes and only one element is allowed between each pair of nodes.
Click the add button to add the first element:
When an element is first added, it does not have Nodes and MPset defined. Select the desired nodes and MPset by clicking on them:
and then click the update button. The element will then be displayed on the main window:
Repeating the process five more times results in a Edit Element dialog display of
and a main window showing six elements:
Next, we need to apply Loads and Restraints to the truss.