Catenary Equation-Based Approach for Force Finding of Cable Domes

Cable forces along the cable length direction vary with deadweight. An invariant that is horizontal component force along the cable length, is introduced to characterize prestress distribution of cable domes. A new approach named catenary equation-based component force balancing method, is proposed for force finding. In the method, the relationship between the form and the horizontal component force of the cable is determined according to catenary equation of the cable. Based on the horizontal component force of one cable, the horizontal component forces of other cables can be solved from the nodal equilibrium relationship. Take the Geiger cable dome as an example, the results of force finding show that the proposed method has clear mechanical concept, high calculation accuracy and simple solving process. Thus, it can provide a new general idea for force finding of cable domes. In addition, the difference of the results of force finding is large between with deadweight considered and with deadweight ignored. Therefore, deadweight should be considered during the prestress design of cable domes.