Nonlinear Analysis and Design of Membrane Fabric Structures: Modeling Procedure and Case Studies
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 11
Abstract
Membrane fabric structures are spatial structures that allow for long span and lightweight roofs. In many cases, membrane roofs are supported with trusses or masts and prestressed together with cables to obtain a resistant shape for a given loading condition. For the design of membrane structures, geometrically nonlinear analysis is required. Additionally, modeling of each membrane element and form-finding of the shape are of great importance in the design process. First, an equilibrium-finding analysis is conducted for the purpose of obtaining the optimal shape of the membrane structure, during which the initial stresses of the membrane and cables must be balanced. Next, the stress-deformation analysis is performed for the required loading condition. This analysis allows understanding of the behavior of the structure and confirms that the design of the membrane satisfies the required safety factor for the construction. The analyses of the Southwestern Baseball Dome in Seoul and the Jeju Stadium Dome in Jeju Island, both in Korea, are presented, with an emphasis on details in all aspects of the analysis process. It is found that the selection of analysis and design techniques and appropriate construction materials would be most critical. The analysis results also show that the form-finding step has a significant effect on increasing the stiffness of the structure and a more regular geometry promotes a more stable response under various loading conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper was funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant (No. 2015-001535) and by the Institute of Construction and Environmental Engineering of Seoul National University. The authors would like to thank Prof. Dae-Jin Kim at Kyung Hee University for his willing discussion and helpful suggestion. The views expressed are those of authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the sponsors.
References
Barnes, M. R. (1999). “Form finding and analysis of tension structures by dynamic relaxation.” Int. J. Space Struct., 14(2), 89–104.
Berger, H. (2012). “Creating architecture with tensile membrane structures.” Proc., Int. Association for Shell and Spatial Structures 2012: From Spatial Structures to Space Structures, International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Madrid, Spain.
Bletzinger, K.-U., and Ramm, E. (2001). “Structural optimization and form finding of light weight structures.” Comput. Struct., 79(22–25), 2053–2062.
Bradshaw, R., Campbell, D., Gargari, M., Mirmiran, A., and Tripeny, P. (2002). “Special structures: Past, present, and future.” J. Struct. Eng., 691–709.
Bridgens, B., and Birchall, M. (2012). “Form and function: The significance of material properties in the design of tensile fabric structures.” Eng. Struct., 44, 1–12.
Cook, R. D., Malkus, D. S., Plesha, M. E., and Witt, R. J. (2007). Concepts and applications of finite element analysis, Wiley, New York.
Forster, B., and Mollaert, M. (2004). European design guide for tensile surface structures, Union Europea. Tensinet, Brussels, Belgium.
Gil Pérez, M. (2015). “Nonlinear analysis and design of tensile membrane structures.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Architecture and Architecture Engineering, Seoul National Univ., Seoul.
Gosling, P. D., et al. (2012). “Analysis and design of membrane structures: Results of a round robin exercise.” Eng. Struct., 48, 313–328.
Heath, M. T. (2002). Scientific computing: An introductory survey, McGraw Hill, New York.
Kim, J.-S., Choi, J.-I., and Cho, D.-W. (2010). “Design process of free-formed dome structure: southwestern dome stadium.” Proc., Int. Association for Shell and Spatial Structures 2012: From Spatial Structures to Space Structures, International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Madrid, Spain.
Kim, N.-S., and Kim, S. D. (2009). “Comparison of nonlinear solutions between tangential stiffness equation and third order nonlinear equation on bifurcation load of space trusses.” Proc., Int. Association for Shell and Spatial Structures 2009: Evolution and Trends in Design, Analysis and Construction of Shell and Spatial Structures, International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Madrid, Spain, 2866–2877.
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.
Otto, F., and Rasch, B. (1996). “Finding form: Towards an architecture of the minimal.” Edition Axel Menges, Fellbach, Germany.
Rezaiee Pajand, M., Tatar, M., and Moghaddasie, B. (2009). “Some geometrical bases for incremental-iterative methods.” Int. J. Eng. Trans. B Appl., 22(3), 245–256.
Schek, H.-J. (1974). “The force density method for form finding and computation of general networks.” Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng., 3(1), 115–134.
Tabarrok, B., and Qin, Z. (1992). “Nonlinear analysis of tension structures.” Comput. Struct., 45(5–6), 973–984.
Veenendaal, D., and Block, P. (2012). “An overview and comparison of structural form finding methods for general networks.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 49(26), 3741–3753.
Wakefield, D. (1999). “Engineering analysis of tension structures: Theory and practice.” Eng. Struct., 21(8), 680–690.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 11 • November 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 22, 2015
Accepted: Mar 1, 2016
Published online: Jun 2, 2016
Published in print: Nov 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Nov 2, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.