Theoretical And Experimental Study On Construction Process Of Cable Dome

Cable dome is a high structural efficiency system. Since it appeared, more engineers and researchers have been attracted by its new structural form, ingenious conception, light weight and fast construction process. There are more than 10 cable domes have been built in the world, unfortunately, none of cable dome is in China. Domestic research achievements of the structure system have been achieved; however, they can not be applied in practical engineering. Therefore, it is necessary to make a further research on construction and forming theory. Systematic research on the key construction techniques of cable dome are studied in this paper from theoretical and experimental methods, so as to provide some technical references for its engineering application.Based on reading a lot of available literatures, the developing history, structural characteristic and engineering application of cable domes are described in this paper. The main research contents of this paper are put forward according to its research states.Based on the two-node curve cable element and the two-node link element, the hybrid finite element equations of cable dome structure is established using the Lagrange's description method, which is the theory basis of this paper. For calculation convenience, a simplified analysis method considering dead load is put forward in this paper. Besides, CPCD (Computation Program of Cable Dome) is developed based on the ANSYS platform. Several examples are given and the analysis results using this program are compared with those from other documents, which verify the reliability of CPCD.In terms of the complexity of construction and forming process of cable domes, the construction time-varying analysis method is proposed in this paper, and the nonlinear time-varying equations for construction process are established, so the time-varying effects in construction are fully considered. The time-varying characteristics of internal forces and node displacements during construction of cable domes are analyzed. The results reach a conclusion that it is not safe to the structural design if the time-varying effect during construction is not considered.Construction method of Tensioning Diagonal Cables (TDC) has been used in all actual engineering. After improving and innovating construction methods used in foreign engineering, a new kind of construction method——Lifting Posts Layer by Layer (LPLL) is proposed in the paper, the construction process of TDC and LPLL are simulated, and mechanical behaviors of structure during construction are compared, the results show that LPLL is more feasible and effective than TDC.Sensitivities of construction errors on structural behaviors are studied, and the proper control ranges of support and component construction error are presented. Moreover, the targets that should be controlled emphatically are pointed out in the paper. In order to improve construction efficiency, uneven prestress level evaluating method is proposed, which can provide clear and reliable reference for construction of cable dome.The transient dynamic method is adopted to analyze influence of local component damage to mechanical property, and failure configurations of structure are analyzed. Failure mechanism of cable dome is defined and conception of round loading system is presented. It is round loading system are broken that lead to failure of cable dome. The security level of each member is classified according to its resisting ability, which provides a certain reference for the design, construction and maintenance of cable dome.In order to verify the validation of analysis theory proposed and the feasibility of the forming method presented in the paper, a cable dome model of 6m diameter have been tested, and the whole process of LPLL was simulated and the components breaking were tested. The experimental results are consistent with the preceding theory.The research works in the paper provide strong technical support for construction of cable dome. Besides, it is of significance in theory and engineering application for design and construction.