Instability of Bracing Reinforce Cable Domes

The purpose of this paper is to study the instability of bracing reinforce cable domes. Tensegrity systems are stable structures which are reticulated spatial structures composed of compressive straight members, struts, and cables. Tensegrity structures need to be introduced to the initial stress for the self-equilibrated system to have a stable state.

In this paper, the effect of bracing reinforcement resisting the in-plan twisting is investigated for the Geiger-type and Zetlin-type models of reinforcing bracing. The effect of initial imperfection is also studied because the structural instability phenomenon of shell-like structures is very sensitive in its initial state. We will study a more exact analysis concerning the structural instability of tensegrity structures using nonlinear analysis program. Then, two types of tensegrity models will be analysed and compared.