Keywords: adaptive cable dome, actuator, active control, tests, system behaviour, finite element analysis.

This paper describes a newly developed adaptive cable dome in the Levi form which has the ability to alter its geometrical form and stress properties in order to adapt its behaviour to current loading conditions. This cable dome contains the active member and sensors that sense forces from the system and adjust its shape and stress state, making the structure more rigid or flexible depending upon the actual load. This system consists of forty-two tensioned cables, six compressed struts and a central strut which is designed to function as an actuator. Results of the experimental and theoretical analyses are compared. Tests are aimed at verifying the cable dome's ability to adapt its state of stress to changing load cases in order to maintain the reliability of the system. Tests confirmed the functionality of the developed adaptive system and the applicability of the proposed electronic equipment, software, computational models and control commands. Results demonstrated that the behaviour of the adaptive cable dome obtained by tests can, generally be closely predicted numerically by using nonlinear finite-element analyses.

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