Transformable Steel Dome

The developed design of the lattice shell has the ability to fold by reducing its size in one direction and increasing it in another. The principal difference of this design lies in the feasibility of folding the dome as a wholly without the need for a complete disassembly of the shell into numerous elements. The positive side of this design is the possibility of factory production of elements, speeding up the installation process and increasing mobility – the dome can be easily folded and transported to a new place. The below step-by-step description of actions of the general method of constructing the surface of the shell allows you to simulate the frame of a folding reticulate dome. Recommendations for the construction calculation contain a description of the methods used for carrying out calculations manually, bringing the arguments in favor of a computer calculation, instructions on creating a model, setting rigidity and types of finite elements, as well as taking into account nonlinearity when designing the dome in the software package LIRA-CAD. The design of the calculation scheme and the calculation itself are carried out using the general theory of shells. The field of practical implementation of the folding net dome is quite wide – it is the construction industry, defense production, agricultural industry and industry as a whole. (paper)