Modelling and Structural Design for Parallel Umbrella-Shaped Cable-Strut Structures Based on Stationary Potential Energy Principles

A method for the modelling and structural design of a parallel umbrella-shaped cable-strut structure (PUSC) is presented. First, simplified calculation models of a PUSC are built. Next, based on the principle of stationary potential energy, the relationships among the cable sectional areas, prestress forces, vector height, sag height, overall displacement, and local deformation are proposed. Then, the static responses of the PUSC under vertical loads and wind loads are put forward. Finally, a calculation model of a 100 m-span PUSC is developed and optimized to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The results show that when the combinations of the loading, variation ranges of the vector height and sag height, and material properties of the components are given, the sectional areas of the cables, dimensions of the inner strut, and prestress forces of these components can be obtained. A greater external load requires a corresponding increase in vector height and sag height to increase the overall stiffness, leading to larger sectional dimensions of the components and a greater prestress of the entire structure. Therefore, the total weight of the cables and inner struts are determined. Moreover, because the weight of the cables decreases and the weight of the inner struts increases as the vector height and sag height increase, the total weight of the cables and struts decreases sharply during the initial stage, decreases gradually during the second stage, and increases slowly during the last stage after reaching the minimum value. For the optimal design of the calculation model, using the vector height and sag height as design variables provides an adequate geometric stiffness and a suitable prestress for the PUSC to fulfill the requirements of all the loading combinations.