Experimental study on wheel-spoke crossed cable structures

Abstract

Wheel-spoke crossed cable structure is a new type of cable-strut structure. In this article, the tension forming and static performance of wheel-spoke crossed cable structure are experimentally investigated by testing four scale models under full-span and half-span downward uniform load, and the effect of structural parameters including variable prestress level, height difference between inner ring and outer ring, and layer height of inner ring is studied by finite element method as well. The test results indicate that radial cables tensioning scheme is effective for wheel-spoke crossed cable structure to reach initial prestress state, and wheel-spoke crossed cable structure possesses excellent load-carrying capacity and structural stiffness since internal forces and vertical displacements of models vary almost linearly under such load cases. Moreover, the static test results are in good agreement with the finite element analysis results, confirming that the model design, measurement methods, and loading schemes are reasonable. Therefore, the results of this study can provide valuable reference for the design and application of wheel-spoke crossed cable structure.