CALCULATION METHOD OF PRESTRESS DISTRIBUTION FOR LEVY CABLE DOME WITH DOUBLE STRUTS CONSIDERING SELF-WEIGHT

A type of Levy cable dome with double struts is presented to improve the mechanical behavior of cable domes. This structure has a good stability and is convenient for construction due to the fact that each upper node is connected to two inclined struts. To solve its force finding problem, according to the balanced equations of connections, the calculation formulas of prestress distribution with self-weight considered are deduced. The calculation tables of cable dome under different parameters are given to investigate the mechanical behavior. The differences of prestress-state with and without self-weight are compared, and the proposed formulas are checked using finite element iteration method. The results show that with the increase of rise-span ratio and height of struts, the initial prestress decreases for all components. Under self-weight, the internal force of inner ridge cables decreases, while the internal force of the most outer diagonal cables and hoop cables increases significantly. Using the formulas deduced in this paper, the actual initial prestress distribution considering self-weight for Levy cable dome with double struts can be obtained rapidly and accurately, providing a reference for engineering design.