Prestress design of cable domes with new forms

Cable domes have been employed as lightweight, large span roofs. In this paper, several new forms of cable domes are first presented and their geometric feasibility is discussed. A general method, referred to as the DSVD, is next proposed for the determination of the integral prestress modes for various cable domes. Optimum prestressing of domes with a single or with multiple integral prestress modes is also examined. The proposed method is verified through numerical simulations, and is believed to provide a helpful tool in the preliminary design of cable domes.