Experimental nonlinear response of a new tensairity structure under cyclic loading

Pneumatic structures are recognized as promising thin-walled structures for their advantageous features such as lightness, portability, versatile design, and ease of installation. Although their bearing capacity under monotonic static loads can be formidable, their inherent dissipation capacity is low and thus entails significant limitations when counteracting dynamic loads. A novel tensairity structure is here proposed to overcome this drawback. The innovative design features a cylindrical inflatable element integrated with NiTiNOL cables wrapped around and affixed to a slender beam positioned along its generatrix. A laboratory-scale prototype is employed to assess how the structure behaves under cyclic loading in comparison to a standalone inflated beam and a conventional tensairity structure outfitted with steel cables. This experimental study delves into the influence of internal pressure and pretension levels of the metallic cables. Experimental results unfold a smooth softening-type hysteretic behavior under cyclic loading, which is accompanied by a slight stiffness degradation and a moderate pinching. The comparative analysis of the experimental results also demonstrates the substantially improved and consistent dissipation capacity of the presented novel concept of tensairity structure, which thus offers superior stability under cyclic loads. A parametric identification based on a modified Bouc-Wen model is finally performed to simulate the hysteretic response of the structure. A correlation is also established between the identified parameters of the phenomenological model and the internal pressure, type and cables pretension levels. The excellent agreement between numerical predictions and experimental force-displacement cycles other than those used for the parametric identification demonstrates the suitability of the adopted phenomenological modeling.