Optimum shapes of a cable dome structure

The present paper reports a study on optimization for maximum stiffness of a full-scale cable dome, which has a 240 x 190 m elliptic plan and is roofe d with membrane. The optimization performed in this study indicated that th e optimum shape of the dome depends greatly on the length of the outermost posts. It was thus found that the vertical displacement in the area along t he minor axis, which is usually big and difficult to reduce for an elliptic cable dome, can be reduced 25 similar to 35% by increasing 20% of the leng th of the outermost posts. The dependence of the optimality upon the design parameters were represented in terms of: (1) the slope of the descent path of the objective function during optimization iteration; (2) the slope of the surface of optima. Such a representation is very helpful for designers to evaluate the dependence of the optimality upon the design parameters so as to make design decisions accordingly. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.