Abstract
This paper offers a group theoretic study of the influence of imperfections on bifurcation buckling behavior of an octagonal, reticulated truss dome structure. The dome exhibited diversified bifurcation behavior in association with various imperfection modes chosen to be covariant with subgroups of a dihedral group. Such variations in bifurcation behavior nonetheless did not alter greatly the buckling capacities of the dome. In addition, the concept of symmetry preserving bifuraction is introduced as a potential cause of bifurcation buckling phenomena.
