A Study on the Selection of Structural Designs for Long-Span Dry Coal Storage Sheds

With the development of the domestic economy and growing environmental awareness, enclosed dry coal storage sheds have become widely adopted and utilized. At the same time, these structures must meet specific clear-span requirements and offer stable structural performance, superior economic efficiency, and ease of construction and installation. Currently, there are numerous structural forms available for dry coal sheds, with the primary types including space frame structures, grid shell structures, tubular truss structures, prestressed arch structures, and inflatable membrane structures.

For enclosed coal storage facilities with spans ranging from 50 m to 120 m, or even 150 m, double-layer grid shell structures—such as cylindrical grid shells and spherical grid shells—are a more economical choice. Common cylindrical shell types include cylindrical shells and triaxial cylindrical shells; common grid unit forms include upright tetrahedrons, inclined upright tetrahedrons, and upright hollow tetrahedrons. Among these, the upright tetrahedron cylindrical shell, which distributes loads evenly, is the most widely used; For dry coal shed structures with spans exceeding 150 m, incorporating prestressed cables to form a cable-stayed arch system with the grid shell or tubular truss structure can improve the structural load-bearing performance, increase structural stiffness, and reduce peak internal forces in members as well as horizontal thrust on the foundation; inflatable membrane structures are a relatively novel type of structure that utilizes the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the membrane to resist self-weight and wind and snow loads. This type of structure offers high construction efficiency and short project durations, with spans capable of exceeding 200 m.

All of the above spatial structures can meet the span and height requirements for dry coal storage sheds, but they differ in terms of structural performance and technical-economic indicators. Depending on specific span and geometric requirements, different structural forms can be selected.