Theoretical analysis and actual experimental research on static characteristics of suspendome structure

The suspendome used as the roof of the VIP hall in Tianjin Museum was analyzed by ANASYS under the assumptions of hinged joints and rigid joints in up chord, respectively, and the results show that the member force and nodal displacement under the two assumptions have little difference. Thus, it is attained that the suspendome can be analyzed with the assumption of hinged joints. A full-scale test on the suspendome with half-cable and half-pipe was carried out. The loading system, arrangement of measuring points, and the test procedures are introduced. Also, a test on steel wire ropes for elastic module was carried out. The experimental and theoretical values of member forces and nodal displacements were compared and it showed that they accord well with each other under low-level load. While under high-level load, the experimental value was bigger than the theoretical value due to the influence of the test environment. With the increase of the load, tension of outside cables and looseness of inside cables occurred, which indicated that the prestressing value in inside cables should be properly assigned. Both the experimental and theoretical results verify that the suspendome has a wide application prospect with the advantages of perfect mechanical characteristics, low steel consumption, convenient construction and low cost. © 2007 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag.