Analytical Study of Structural Conformation and Prestressing State of Drum-Shaped Honeycomb Quad-Strut Cable Dome Structure with Different Calculation Methods

Abstract

Building upon the analytical study of the structural configuration and prestress state of the drum-shaped quad-strut cable dome, we conducted further investigation into its structural configuration. By employing the nodal equilibrium equations to solve the prestress state analysis of the cable dome, we compared the effects of two different cable laying methods on the prestress state of the cable dome structure. These methods include equal length of the radial horizontal projection of the upper chord ridge cables and equal radial chord length of the upper chord ridge cables. The analysis results show that the radial length of the top chord and its corresponding radial horizontal projection length of the cable dome structure can effectively reflect the trend of the prestress state of the structural configuration. Furthermore, by using a rise-to-span ratio of 0.11 as a threshold, the cable dome configuration is categorized into the flat spheroidal structural configuration and the small hemispheroidal structural configuration. When the structure is analyzed using a small rise-to-span ratio, the difference in prestress calculations between the two structural configurations is found to be less than 10%. Additionally, the structure exhibits a more uniform distribution of prestress, with the prestress gradually increasing from the inner circle to the outer circle. However, when the rise-to-span ratio increases, the difference between the prestress calculation results of the two configurations also increases, emphasizing the need to deploy upper chord ridge cables based on equal radial chord lengths (arc lengths). The research presented in this paper provides a novel insight into the structural topological form and prestress state calculation of cable domes with this configuration.