Random imperfection effect on reliability of space structures with different supports

Abstract

The existence of initial imperfections in manufacturing or assembly of double-layer space structures having hundreds or thousands of members is inevitable. Many of the imperfections, such as the initial curvature of the members and residual stresses in members, are all random in nature. In this paper, the probabilistic effect of initial curvature imperfections in the load bearing capacity of double-layer grid space structures with different types of supports have been investigated. First, for the initial curvature imperfection of each member, a random number is generated from a gamma distribution. Then, by employing the same probabilistic model, the imperfections are randomly distributed amongst the members of the structure. Afterwards, the collapse behavior and the ultimate bearing capacity of the structure are determined by using nonlinear push down analysis and this procedure is frequently repeated. Ultimately, based on the maximum values of bearing capacity acquired from the analysis of different samples, structure's reliability is obtained by using Monte Carlo simulation method. The results show the sensitivity of the collapse behavior of double-layer grid space structures to the random distribution of initial imperfections and supports type.