Abstract:Four kinds of skeletons (no branching, two “one divided two” and “one divided three” structures) were designed based on the branching structure of Euryale veins and the stability characteristics of the triangle. Static and linear buckling analysis were carried out by ANSYS finite element analysis software, the static analysis showed that there were significant differences among the four greenhouses under the load combination two (wind load combination), the values of displacement and strength were reduced by 98.92% and 86.46% with the increase of bifurcate series, respectively, and “one divided twoall triangle” and “one divided three” met the strength requirement and their mechanical properties were similar, but “one divided twoall triangle” saved more material; buckling analysis showed that under vertical and horizontal loads, the buckling loads were 63.52~26737.22 times and 26.86~11300.97 times of the allowable loads (limits based on the element lengths), which illustrated the four greenhouses all satisfied the stability requirement and significant response to vertical loads (the buckling load was increased by nearly three times due to bifurcation structure). Therefore, the one divided twoall triangle was the optimal structure. The number of groups which had no significant difference with simulation results accounted for 75% and 25% existed slightly deviations among the 12 groups of strain tests in scale model that was made according to 1∶25, and the test relative errors were 0.18%~0.69%, which showed the simulation process was accurate and reliable. The response of horizontal beams to combination one (snow load combination) was obvious, and the strain mean of each group under combination one was 5.6 times of that under combination two, and the combination two had significant effect on vertical beams, which was characterized by the strain mean of each group under combination two, and it was 6.2 times of that under combination one.