A CABLE FORCE ESTIMATION METHOD FOR SPOKE STRUCTURAL ROOF BASED ON STATIC DISPLACEMENT MEASUREMENT

With respect to the topological property of spoke structures, this paper presents a cable force estimation method based on static displacement measurement. A finite element model is established by measuring structure’s configuration. Certain loads are applied on real structure and the corresponding displacements are measured. The same loads are applied on finite element model and its nodal displacements are calculated. According to the difference between calculated and measured displacement, the pre-stresses of cables model are adjusted and iterated in the finite element model. Real cable forces could be obtained as calculated displacements are equal to the measured ones. Only displacements at degrees of freedom where the loads are applied need to be measured. This method can be achieved with general finite element program ANSYS, and the estimated cable force is deemed accurate.