In order to establish a conclusive result for the application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) cable as a tensegrity system for a suspen dome, the structural integrity assessment of the system, subjected to transient load, must be considered. This paper gives a preliminary assessment of the dynamic behavior of carbon fibre reinforced polymer cable in a suspen dome in comparison with that of the steel counterpart, using a small model of 4 m span and 0.4 m rise. A commercial finite element software namely ANSYS was used for the structure simulation in respect of the experimental design. The results from the simulation show that the carbon fibre reinforced polymer cable gives a reliable assessment as the steel counterpart. The natural frequencies of CFRP cables are higher than those of steel cables due to the CFRP cables’ high stiffness-to-weight ratio and less curvature under gravity loads. CFRP cables influence the structure with good stiffness which provides good vibration resistance. The results also indicate that from a technical point of view, carbon fibre reinforced polymer cables can perform better than steel cables as tensegrity system for a suspen dome. It is concluded that CFRP cables can be applied to replace steel ones as tensegrity system for a suspen dome.

Abstract:With the recent trend in long span space structures, suspen-dome as a roof structure is becoming popular. Therefore, as the construction of long span structures increases in the world today, the effectiveness of suspen-dome structure should be considered in order to undertake further development of the system which may be required to improve its design and construction. One direction of the improvement of such structures is to seek new materials other than using the traditional steel to yield better results. This paper is a review of the suspen-dome system, including its characteristics, its use in space construction, its success as well as the possibility of replacing steel with other materials for better results. From the review, it is found that using steel cables in suspen-dome structure has some shortcomings which can be eliminated by the use of other materials. It is suggested that Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) can be the material because of its advantages over steel as indicated in the paper.

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Structural stability is one of the major factors considered for structural design. The integrity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer as a tensegrity system in a suspen dome is investigated by employing a computational model with a span of 93m. ANSYS software was employed for the investigation. The load-displacement curve of the structure was studied to understand the ultimate load bearing capacity in comparison with steel cable using Newton-Raphson and arc length methods. Parameters such as nodal displacement, stresses on the single reticulated layer and internal forces of the tension members that influence the structures integrity were considered. Results show that despite the antistrophic nature of carbon fiber reinforced polymer it possesses similar characteristics as steel cables.