Elastic Buckling Analysis of Rigidly Jointed Single Layer Reticulated Domes with Random Initial Imperfection

In the present paper, the effect of imperfection on the elastic buckling load and mode shapes of externally-loaded single layer reticulated domes is investigated. The types of buckling concerned here are the general buckling, the local (dimple) buckling and the buckling of a member. As to the geometric parameter of a dome, the slenderness factor S is adopted which represents the openness and slenderness of the dome. The maximum value of the imperfection is assumed to be the normal random variable. The buckling loads are computed by the linear and the nonlinear buckling analysis using the finite element method. The statistical values are calculated by the three-points estimates method. The main points of interest are the influence of the shape and the extent of an imperfection on the buckling load.