EFFECT OF RANDOM PRE-STRESSED FRICTION LOSS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A SUSPEN-DOME STRUCTURE

Abstract

The key to the high-efficiency performance of the suspen-dome structure is to apply the pre-stressed design value to the structure accurately. However, engineering practice has found that the use of tensioning hoop cables to apply the pre-stress will produce noticeable pre-stressed friction loss (PFL), which significantly affects the safety performance of the structure. In this paper, based on a 1:10 scaled-down experiment model of a suspen-dome structure with rolling cable-strut joint installed, the random PFL (RPFL) effect of the suspen-dome on structure performance was analyzed through a probability statistics theory. First, aiming at the unequal tensioning force at both sides of the tensioned hoop cable during the tensioning process, a pre-stressed force calculation method is proposed that considers the unequal tensioning control force and RPFL at all cable–strut joints, and the reliability of this method is verified through a tension test. Then, based on the cable-joint tension test carried out in the early stage of the research group, a random mathematical model of the friction coefficient (FC) at the rolling cable–strut joint is established. And then, the cable force calculation method is used to establish the random finite element model, and independent and random changes in the FC at each rolling cable–strut joint can be considered. Subsequently, the Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the random mathematical characteristics of the mechanical performance parameters such as the member stress and joint deformation, and the obtained results are verified through a static loading experiment. In addition, to investigate the effect of random defects on structural stability, other random defects, such as the initial curvature and installation deviation, were continuously introduce based on the random finite element model. As such, we could obtain the law of the effect of multi-defect random variation coupling on the structure’s ultimate bearing capacity.