Study on stability of reticulated shell structures considering the influence of member buckling

In order to understand the influence of member buckling on the stability of reticulated shells, a key issue on how to distinguish member buckling for reticulated shell structures was pointed out, and methods for discriminating member buckling was proposed. A reticulated dome model tested was analyzed and compared by using the finite element software ANSYS. The total response, judgment results of member buckling and the influence of member buckling on the structure were obtained. The analyses results are in good agreement with the test. Using a Kiewitt8 dome as an example, the buckling characteristics and propagation pattern of member buckling were studied. Meanwhile, taking the member buckling into consideration, the effect of material nonlinearity, initial geometric imperfection, and bending second-order effect and bending buckling of members on the stability of the members and the reticulated shell structures were investigated. The results show that the proposed methods can discriminate the member buckling for reticulated shells effectively; the member buckling and its propagation can affect the stability of the structure directly.