Stability analysis of single-layer aluminum reticulated shells with improved TEMCOR joints

This research work aims to find out the main influencing factors on the stability performance, especially the critical loads and the instability modes, of the single-layer aluminum reticulated shells with semi-rigid joints. The moment-rotation curves of a new developed joint system, the improved TEMCOR joint, are introduced into the research which significantly improve the shear behavior and decrease the amount of bolts. Based on the bending stiffness curves of the new joints, the finite element models of semi-rigidly jointed single-layer aluminum reticulated shells are established. Parametric analysis of the reticulated shells is carried out using finite element analysis software ANSYS. The parameters considered in the numerical simulation are bending stiffness, ratio of rise to span, asymmetric load distribution and initial imperfection. Then, the influence of the different parameters on the critical loads, instability modes and joint stiffness status is identified. Finally, through regression analysis, formulae are derived for the calculation of critical loads of the single-layer aluminum reticulated shells with semi-rigid joints. The differences between the numerical simulation and the proposed formulae are summarize to prove that the formulae are effective and convenient for evaluating the critical loads of the aluminum single-layer reticulated shells.