Effect of joint stiffness and size on stability of three-way single-layer cylindrical reticular shell

The main aim of the present article is to study the effect of joint stiffness and joint size on load-carrying capacity of single-layer cylindrical reticular shell. One normalized joint bending stiffness index κb and three proposed normalized indexes, that is, normalized joint axial stiffness κa, normalized joint shear stiffness κs, and normalized joint torsional stiffness κt, are used to evaluate the stiffness of joint. Through a large number of numerical computations, the main conclusions are summarized as follows: κb has a significant effect on limit load of reticular shell, and this effect has a close relationship to rise-to-span ratio of reticular shell. If κb is larger than 30, the joint can be treated as rigid joint. The relationship between the logarithm of κb and limit load of reticular shell can be expressed by the logistic formulation. Overall rigidity and load-carrying capacity of reticular shell are greatly influenced by joint axial stiffness. If κa is larger than 30, the effect of joint axial stiffness on load-carrying capacity of reticular shell is no longer obvious. Otherwise, the load-carrying capacity will be markedly reduced. The relation between the logarithm of κa and limit load of reticular shell can be fitted by the Dose–response formulation. The load-carrying capacity of reticular shell is also influenced by joint torsional stiffness and joint shear stiffness to some extent. The relation between the logarithm of κs and limit load can be fitted by the Asymptotic formulation. The effect of joint size on overall rigidity and limit load of reticular shell is evident and cannot be neglected. The limit load gradually decreases with the decrease in joint size, and there is an approximate linear relationship between limit load and joint size.