Non-uniform thermal behavior of single-layer spherical reticulated shell structures considering time-variant environmental factors: analysis and design

Contrary to conventional design methods that assume uniform and slow temperature changes tied to atmospheric conditions,single-layer spherical reticulated shells undergo significant non-uniform and time-variant temperature variations due to dynamic environmental coupling.These differences can affect structural performance and pose safety risks.Here,a systematic numerical method was developed and applied to simulate long-term temperature variations in such a structure under real environmental conditions,revealing its non-uniform distribution characteristics and time-variant regularity.A simplified design method for non-uniform thermal loads,accounting for time-variant environmental factors,was theoretically derived and validated through experiments and simulations.The maximum deviation and mean error rate between calculated and tested results were 6.1℃ and 3.7%,respectively.Calculated temperature fields aligned with simulated ones,with deviations under 6.0℃.Using the design method,non-uniform thermal effects of the structure are analyzed.Maximum member stress and nodal displacement under non-uniform thermal loads reached 119.3 MPa and 19.7 mm,representing increases of 167.5%and 169.9%,respectively,compared to uniform thermal loads.The impacts of healing construction time on non-uniform thermal effects were evaluated,resulting in construction recommendations.The methodologies and conclusions presented here can serve as valuable references for the thermal design,construction,and control of single-layer spherical reticulated shells or similar structures.

A new neural-network-based method for structural damage identification in single-layer reticulated shells

Single-layer reticulated shells(SLRSs)find widespread application in the roofs of crucial public structures,such as gymnasiums and exhibition center.In this paper,a new neural-network-based method for structural damage identification in SLRSs is proposed.First,a damage vector index,NDL,that is related only to the damage localization,is proposed for SLRSs,and a damage data set is constructed from NDL data.On the basis of visualization of the NDL damage data set,the structural damaged region locations are identified using convolutional neural networks(CNNs).By cross-dividing the damaged region locations and using parallel CNNs for each regional location,the damaged region locations can be quickly and efficiently identified and the undamaged region locations can be eliminated.Second,a damage vector index,DS,that is related to the damage location and damage degree,is proposed for SLRSs.Based on the damaged region identified previously,a fully connected neural network(FCNN)is constructed to identify the location and damage degree of members.The effectiveness and reliability of the proposed method are verified by considering a numerical case of a spherical SLRS.The calculation results showed that the proposed method can quickly eliminate candidate locations of potential damaged region locations and precisely determine the location and damage degree of members.

Stability analysis of ellipse- like suspen-dome structures with low rise-span ratio

To investigate the effects of initial geometric imperfection and material nonlinearity on the stability analysis of the suspen-dome, the steel roof of Jiangsu Culture Sports Center Gymnasium was utilized as a numerical model, and modal analyses were performed. Then, linear buckling analysis,geometric nonlinear stability analysis, geometric nonlinear stability analysis with initial imperfection, and double nonlinear analysis considering material nonlinearity and geometric nonlinearity were discussed in detail to compare the stability performance of the ellipse-like suspen-dome and the single-layer reticulated shell. The results showthat the cable-strut system increases the integrity of the suspen-dome, and moderates the sensibility of the single-layer reticulated shell to initial geometric imperfection. However, it has little influence on integral rigidity, fundamental vibration frequencies, linear ultimate live loads, and geometric nonlinear ultimate live loads without initial imperfection. When considering the material nonlinearity and initial imperfection, a significant reduction occurs in the ultimate stability capacities of these two structures. In this case, the suspen-dome with a lowrise-span ratio is sensitive to the initial imperfection and material nonlinearity. In addition, the distribution pattern of live loads significantly influences the instability modes of the structure, and the uniform live load with full span is not always the most dangerous case.