Coupling Effect of Member Eccentricity and Nodal Deviation on Stability of Kiewitt Reticulated Shell

Abstract

Single-layer reticulated shell is a kind of imperfection-sensitive structure, and its stability is influenced by many factors, especially geometric imperfections. To investigate the effect of nodal deviation, member eccentricity and their couplings on stability of reticulated shell with welded hollow sphere joint, a Kiewitt-6 single-layer reticulated shell with aforementioned two kinds of imperfections are chosen as numerical models. A mechanical model of single-layer reticulated shell which can take nodal deviation and member eccentricity simultaneously into consideration is firstly put forward. Secondly, implementation steps of the above- mentioned two imperfections in reticulated shell are demonstrated in detail. Then quantify the influence of nodal deviation, member eccentricity and their couplings with different magnitudes on stability of single-layer reticulated shell. The results show that nodal deviation has adversely remarkable impact on limit load of reticulated shell, while member eccentricity affects limit load of reticulated shell to a small extent. With the increase of nodal deviation, the influence of member eccentricity on limit load gradually decreases. The reduction effect of member eccentricity on limit load of reticulated shell has a close relationship to the magnitude of nodal deviation. The developed mechanical model of single-layer reticulated shell with nodal deviation and member eccentricity and implementation steps can be generalized to other space frame structures.