Concrete Shells Form-Finding with Surface Stress Density Method
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 130, Issue 6
Abstract
Concrete shells undoubtedly remain one of the genuine structural elements in contemporary architecture. However, designers have always been faced with difficulties in determining their shapes and, therefore, have developed analogies principally based upon physical models. In this paper, the authors propose a new form-finding method devoted to the numerical calculation of shell geometry and stress distribution. The mechanical approach requires isotropic stress tensors and is thus related to the surface stress density method already used for tensile fabric membranes. This process provides builders with an effective design tool and the possibility of generating various and suitable shapes in an interactive way. Several examples illustrate the efficiency and potential of the method.
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References
Chilton, J. (2000). The engineer’s contribution to contemporary architecture: Heinz Isler, Thomas Telford, London.
Isler, H. (2000). “Creating shell shapes.” Proc., 4th Int. Colloquium on Structural Morphology, Delft, The Netherlands, 108–115.
Maurin, B., and Motro, R.(1998). “The surface stress density method as a form-finding tool for tensile membranes.” Eng. Struct., 20(8), 712–719.
Nooshin, H., and Disney, P.(2000). “Formex configuration processing.” Int. J. Space Struct., 15(1), 1–52.
Sheck, H. J. (1974). “The force density method for form-finding and computations of general networks.” Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng., 115–134.
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Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 20, 2002
Accepted: Sep 20, 2002
Published online: May 14, 2004
Published in print: Jun 2004
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