Narrow Results

Beam string structures (BSS) are frequently employed in large-span spatial structures due to their high load-carrying efficiency and elegant appearance. Owing to the neglect of the influence of prestress, the natural frequency of the BSS is often overestimated which could be crucial to the dynamic behavior of BSS. This paper presents an exact matrix stiffness analysis method (MSM) for investigating the relationship between prestress and the natural frequency of the planar BSS. A novel dynamic stiffness matrix of beam–columns considering the natural frequency and axial force is used to develop the MSM. The dynamic analysis of the structural vibration stability of BSS is performed by using the global structural stiffness matrix which is assembled from the element stiffness matrices in the global coordinate system. The proposed MSM with the exact dynamic element stiffness matrix for the dynamic analysis of the BSS is verified by comparing with previous results based on the finite element method. The illustrative examples demonstrate that the prestress in the cable has a negative effect on the natural frequency of the BSS and should be considered in the dynamic analysis. As the axial force increases from zero to the buckling load $P_{cr}$, the natural frequency of the BSS decreases from the maximum vibration frequency to zero. The influence of prestress on the vibration frequencies of BSS is particularly significant when the prestress to balance the loads is large, especially in the case of large dead and live loads (e.g. floor slabs).