Energy-based seismic stability analysis of single-layer reticulated dome structures

Seismic stability of single-layer dome structures is closely related to both the external seismic ground motions and structural properties. The physical mechanism of seismic instability of single-layer reticulated dome structures is investigated from the perspective of energy, which can take into account both the external excitations and structural properties. First, the energy balance equation is established and the accuracy for calculating each energy component of structures is verified. Then, the energy-based criterion is introduced as a quantitative index for the identification of seismic stability/instability, where the first-passage of the intrinsic energy over the input energy demonstrates the seismic instability of single-layer reticulated dome structures. Besides, some qualitative indices are also employed to further confirm the judgement by the energy-based criterion. By using the proposed criterion, the critical peak ground acceleration for seismic stability of single-layer reticulated dome structures can be identified by using the incremental dynamic analysis. The energy-based criterion is also validated by comparisons with the B-R criterion. Parametric analyses are implemented to investigate the impacts of different structural parameters on seismic stability and characteristic responses of single-layer dome structures.