Posttensioned and Shaped Hexagonal Grid Dome: Test and Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an ultimate load test and analysis of a posttensioned and shaped hexagonal grid dome. The hexagonal grid dome is one type of the recently proposed posttensioned and shaped single chorded space trusses which are constructed by means of posttensioning. The dome is first assembled as a planar layout on the ground, and then is deformed into its final space shape by a posttensioning operation. After shape formation, the dome is loaded to failure in order to determine the ultimate load. Finite-element analyses that correlate experimental forces in individual members, and prestress forces caused by posttensioning, have been made in an attempt to predict the ultimate load of the posttensioned and shaped dome. Comparison between theory and experiment shows that the test dome did not reach the theoretical ultimate load, and that the posttensioning had some effect on the ultimate load capacity. The nonlinear finite-element method based on the experimental results can be helpful to predict the ultimate load of posttensioned and shaped domes.