Experimental study on the ground support conditions of pipe ends in single span pipe greenhouse

This study was carried out to find out the suitable ground support condition needed for structural analysis when single span pipe greenhouses (pipe houses) were designed. The snow and wind loading tests on the actual size pipe house were conducted to measure the collapsing shape, displacement and strain. The experimental results were compared with the structural analysis results for 4 different ground support conditions of pipe ends (fixed at ground surface, hinged at ground surface, fixed underground and hinged underground). The pipe house under snow load collapsed at the eaves as predicted, and the actual strain at the windward eave and ground support under wind load was larger than that under snow load. The displacement was the largest at the hinged support underground, followed by the hinged at ground surface, the fixed underground and then the fixed at ground surface independent of displacement direction and experimental loading condition. The experimental results agreed most closely with the results of theoretical analysis at the fixed condition underground among 4 different ground support conditions. As of the result, it was recommended that the pipe end support condition of single span pipe greenhouse was the fixed underground for structural analysis.