Initial Shape Analysis and Experimental Study of Air-Supported Membrane Structure Considering Cable–Membrane Contact

Abstract

The cable net and membrane of the air-supported membrane structure transmits the load through mutual extrusion, and the contact interaction between the cable net and membrane should be considered in the initial morphological analysis stage. In this paper, a scale model was designed according to a large-span air-supported membrane structure engineering project, and the shape and force of the structure were measured. At the same time, a finite element model of cable–membrane contact was established, and its interaction behavior was regarded as a combined contact state and sliding contact state. The results show that the influence of different contact state analyses on the prestress of the cable net is obvious, and the influence of the sliding contact between the cable and the membrane should be considered in the design of the membrane structure.