The Islamic University of Gaza

Department of Civil Engineering

ENGC 6353

Shell Structures
Design of Spherical Shells (Domes)
 Shell Structure

A thin shell is defined as a shell with a relatively small

thickness, compared with its other dimensions.
Shell Structure
 Four commonly occurring Shell Types:

Barrel Vault

Dome

Folded Plate
Hyperbolic Paraboloid (Hypar)
What is a shell structure?
To answer this question, we have to investigate some important notions
of structural design.
 Two-dimensional structures: beams and arches

A beam responds to loading by bending An arch responds to loading by

the top elements of the beam are
compressed and the bottom is extended:
the development of internal tension and
compression is necessary to resist the
applied vertical loading.
compressing.
The elements through the thickness of
the arch are being compressed
approximately equally. Note that there
is some bending also present.
 Plate Bending

A plate responds to transverse loads by bending

This is a fundamentally inefficient use of material, by analogy to
the beam. Moreover, bending introduces tension into the
convex side of the bent plate.
 Plate bending vs. membrane stresses

Note: this is an experiment you can try yourself by folding a sheet

of paper into a box.

This slide shows a concrete plate of 6”
thickness, spanning 100 feet, resisting
its own weight by plate bending
If the plate is shaped into a box,
then each of the sides of the box
resists bending by the development
of membrane stresses. The box
structure is much stronger and
stiffer!
 Domes

A shell is shaped so that it will develop membrane

stresses in response to loads

The half-dome shell responds to transverse loads by development of

membrane forces. Note that lines on the shell retain approximately their
original shape.
 Domes
The primary response of a dome to loading is development of membrane
compressive stresses along the meridians, by analogy to the arch.
The dome also develops compressive or tensile membrane stresses along
lines of latitude. These are known as ‘hoop stresses’ and are tensile at the
base and compressive higher up in the dome.

Circumferential Hoop Stress

Meridional Compressive Stress (comp.)

Circumferential Hoop Stress (tens.)

 In this figure, the blue color
represents zones of
compressive stress only.
The colors beyond blue
represent circumferential
tensile stresses, intensifying
as the colors move towards
the red.
A dome that is a segment of
a sphere not including
latitudes less than 50 does
not develop significant hoop
tension.

The half-dome shell does develop membrane tensile stresses, below about
50 ‘north latitude.’ These are also known as ‘hoop stresses’
 Barrel Vaults

A barrel vault functions two ways

compression

Arch
(compression)
tension
In the transverse
direction, it is an arch
developing
compressive
membrane forces that
are transferred to the
base of the arch
When unsupported along its length, it is more like a
beam, developing compressive membrane forces near
the crown of the arch, and tensile membrane forces at
the base.
 Barrel Vaults

A barrel vault is a simple extension of an arch shape along the width. It

can be supported on continuous walls along the length, or at the corners,
as in this example. If supported on the corners, it functions as an arch
across the width, and as a beam, with compression on the top and tension
on the bottom in the long direction. This form is susceptible to distortion.
Barrel Vault, continued

As with any arch, some form of lateral restraint is required--

this figure shows the influence of restraining the base of
the arch--the structure is still subject to transverse bending
stresses resulting from the distortion of the arch.
 Folded Plates
Folded plate structures were widely favored for their simplicity of
forming, and the variety of forms that were available.

Perpendicular to the
main span, the shell acts
as short span plates in
transverse bending
In the main span direction, the
shell develops membrane tension
at the bottom and compression at
the top, in analogy to a beam in
bending
 What’s wrong with this Folded Plate Structure?

Compare to the discussion of barrel vaults, and see if you can tell what key
element is missing from the folded plate shown.

It is missing transverse diaphragms,

especially at the ends.
When adding a diaphragm at the two ends and at midspan. The folded plate
shell distorts much less.
 Thin Shell Structures
Two type of stresses are produced:
1. Meridional stresses along the direction of the meridians
2. Hoop stresses along the latitudes
Bending stresses are negligible, but become significant when the rise
of the dome is very small
(if the rise is less than the about1/8 the base diameter the shell is
considered as a shallow shell)
 Thin Shell Structures

Assumption of Analysis
1. Deflection under load are small.
2. Points on the normal to the middle surface of deformation
will remain on the normal after deformation
3. Shear stresses normal to the middle surface can be neglected
 Spherical Shells
Internal Forces due to dead load w/m3
Consider the equilibrium of a ring enclosed between two
Horizontal section AB and CD
 The weight of the ring ABCD itself acting vertically downward
 The meridional thrust N per unit length acting tangentially at B
 The reaction thrust N +d N per unit unit length at point D
E N

A F  B
C D

N+dN
 r a
H
d
N
a 

 E N

A r’ F  B
C D

N+dN
 r a
H
d
N
Meridional Force N  a  

Surface area of shell AEB

A  2 a  EF
EF  a 1  cos  
W  w D  A  D  2  a  EF
W  w D  2  a 2 (1  cos  )
N  (2 r ') sin   w D  2  a 2 (1  cos  )
r '  a sin 
w  a (1  cos  ) w D  a (1  cos  ) w Da +ve compression
N  D   -ve tension
sin 2  (1  cos  )(1  cos  ) 1  cos 
 E N

A F  B
C D

N+dN
 r a
H
d
N
a  
Hoop Force N
The difference between the N and N  dN which respectively acts at
N
angles  and   d with the horizontal give rise to the hoop force. B
Hoope force = N ad d

The horizontal component of N is N cos W

D
N causes hoop tension N a cos sin 
N+dN
similarly
The horizontal component of N +dN is  N +dN  cos   d 
N +dN causes hoop tension N  +dN  cos   d  a cos   d 
 E N

A F B
C D

N+dN
 r a
H
d
N
a  

When increase in  is small dN  tends to be zero

N
N  ad   d  N  a cos sin   B
d
where
w D  a (1  cos  ) D W
N 
sin 2 
N+dN
 1   cos   cos   1 
2
N  w D a  cos -  w D a  
 1  cos    1  cos  
 Spherical Shells
Hoop Force N 
 1 
N   w D a  cos - 
 1  cos  
wa
At crown   0 N   (compression )
2
At base   90 N   wa (tension )
when N   0   51o 49'
for   51o 49' N  will be compressive
for   51o 49' N  will be tensile
 Summary
In order to make the
– Negative sign for compression and
+Positive sign for tension for Meridional and Hoop forces
The previous equations can be rewritten as follows:

w Da
N  
1  cos 
 1 
N  w D a   cos 
 1  cos  
Spherical Shells
 Spherical Shells

Ring Force H 
cos 
H  N  cos   w D a
1  cos 
at   51o 49'  N   0 & H is maximum
H max  0.382 w D a
 Spherical Shells
Internal forces due to Live load (wL/m2)horizontal
Meridional Force T
W  w L   r 2  w L   a 2 sin 2
y  a (1  cos  )
r  a sin 
N   2 a sin   sin   w L   a 2 sin 2
w La
N  
2
Hoop Force N
wL a
N    cos 2 
2
Ring Tension
cos 
H  N  cos   w L a
2
at   45o  N   0 & H is maximum H max  0.3535 w L a
Spherical Shells
 Ring beam design

Design of the Circular Beam

Horizontal Load
T Ultimate Load
As 
0.9f y
T  H r
Vertical Load
Vertical Uniform load (w V )  N  sin   o .w
2 r
Span length  l  
# of supports
P  2  r wV
M max ve  C 1  P r (see the tables of circular beams)
M max ve  C 2  P r (see the tables of circular beams)
 Edge Forces

In flat spherical domes, bending moments will be developed due to

the big difference between the high tensile stress in the foot ring and
compressive stresses in the adjacent zones
It is recommended to use transition curves at the edge and to
increase the thickness of the shell at the transition curve.
Bending moments can be avoided if the shape of meridian is
changed in a convenient manner. This change can be done by a
transition curve, which when well chosen gives a relief to the stress at
the foot ring.
 Edge Forces
In order to decrease the stress due to the forces at the foot ring, it is
recommended to increase the thickness of the shell in the region of
the transition curve.
Ring Beam
At the free edge of the dome, meridian stresses have a large
horizontal component which is taken care of by providing a ring
beam there. This ring beam is subjected to hoop tension.
In case of hemispherical domes, no ring beam are required
since the meridional thrust is vertical at free end
Reinforcement
Steel is generally placed at the center of the thickness of the
dome along the meridians and latitudes. If all the meridional
lines are led to the crown, there will be a lot of congestion of bars
and their proper anchorage may be difficult.
To overcome this problem, small circle is left at the crown and
all the meridional steel bars are stopped at this circle. Area
enclosed by this small circle at the top is reinforced by a separate
mesh.
 Example: Design of a spherical dome
Design a spherical shell roof for a circular tank 12m in
diameter as shown in the figure. Assume the following
loading: Covering material = 50 kg/m2 and LL= 100 kg/m2
Use f c'  300 kg / cm 2 and f y  4200 kg / cm 2

y=1.4m

r=6m

a
 Example: Design of a spherical dome

a 2  r 2  a  y 
2

a 2  r 2  a 2  y 2  2ay
r 2  y 2 62  1.42 y=1.4m
Radius of the Shell a    13.56m
2y 2 1.4 
r=6m
6
sin =  0.442
13.56
  26.23 cos   0.896 tan   0.493
a
Loading on roof
Assume shell thickness = 10 cm
Own weight = 0.1(2.5)= 0.25 t/m2
Covering materials = 0.05 t/m2
LL= 0.1 t/m2
Note: the live load is considered as loading per surface area
 Example: Design of a spherical dome

Design of Ring Beam:

Wu= 1.2(0.2+0.05)+1.6(0.1)=0.52 t/m2
Total load on roof =
2ayWu=2(13.56)(1.4)(0.52)=62 ton

Vertical Load per meter of cylindrical wall

=62/(2*6)=1.645 ton/m’
Outward horizontal force =1.645/tan=3.337 t/m’

Ring tension in beam

T  H  r  3.337  5  20 tons
T 20*1000
As    5.35cm 2
 f y 0.9  4200 
use 8  10 mm
 Example: Design of a spherical dome
Design of the Shell
Meridian Force
Meridian force per unit length of circumference
Wua
N  
1  cos 
Wua 0.52*13.56
at   0 N     3.52 t / m ' (compression)
2 2
at foot cos   0.896
0.52 13.56 
N    3.72 t / m ' (compression)
1  0.896
Use minimum reinf. ratio = 0.0018
A s  0.0018(10)(100)  1.8 cm 2
use 5  8 mm/m
 Example: Design of a spherical dome
Ring (Hoop) Force

 1 
N  w u r   cos 
 1  cos  
wr 0.52(13.56)
At crown   0 N     3.52 t / m ' (compression)
2 2
At foot cos   0.896 N   2.59 t / m ' (compression)
A s  0.0018(10)(100)  1.8 cm 2
use minmum reinf. 5  8 mm/m
 Example: Design of a spherical dome
Bending Moment
Assume that the thickness at the foot = 15 cm

x  0.6 at  0.6 13.56  0.15   0.85 cm

W u x 2 0.52  0.85 
2

Fixing moment M    0.188 t / m

2 2
d  15  3  12cm
0.85  300   1  2.61 106  0.188 
 1    0.0003   min
100 12   300  
2
4200 

use minmum reinf. 5  8 mm/m
Example: Design of a spherical Dome

Reinforcement details
 Spherical Shells under General Loading

Internal Forces Due to Others Loading