ABSTRACT
The reciprocal dome structures are aesthetically beautiful and structurally reliable. However, there are very limited existing studies available regarding to the joint design of the timber reciprocal dome structures, which does not match well with the fast development of timber-made infrastructures. This paper proposes an innovative and intuitive design of connection for the timber-made reciprocal dome structures. The design appears to be a lap joint, whereas it is indeed a bolted connection hidden in the pre-opened notches. Then, the paper reports the results from a set of scaled experiments designed to investigate the mechanical behavior of the proposed joint. Different angles between the timber elements is also discussed. Furthermore, the failure modes of such type of connection are summarized. The paper also presents the numerical simulated results. Finally, after comprehending the connection level behavior, the architectural and structural designs of a sample timber-made reciprocal dome structures is carried out.
