The theorems of structural variation express the relationships between the forces and deflections of two relative structures. The second of which is obtained by removing or altering the physical properties of some members of the first without any need of a fresh analysis. It is also shown that the linear elastic analysis of a frame is sufficient to predict the nonlinear behaviour of a number of related plane frames.

In this work, further to those given above, the theorems of structural variation are employed to include the effect of geometric nonlinearity as well as material non linearity in the analysis of space trusses. A single linear elastic analysis of even some other truss makes it possible to trace the complete load-deflection history up to a specific load factor or up to and including failure. To achieve this, the nonlinear axial force-axial displacement diagram of tension and compression members considering post buckling behaviours are constructed. A series of linear analysis are then repeated when the physical property, EA of a member changes. Number of numerical examples is considered to demonstrate the practical application of the method.

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