The company LEICHT was awarded the design phase for the Champagne Bar’s new roof located at the Goodwood Racecourse. The planning steps included the form-finding process, the membrane and supporting steel structure approval and design, and the membrane and cable cutting patterns.
Structural Design:
LEICHT Structural engineering and specialist consulting GmbH
www.lightonline.com
Membrane Structure with Cutting Patterns
Number of Nodes | 217 |
Number of Lines | 219 |
Number of Members | 214 |
Number of Surfaces | 15 |
Number of Load Cases | 2 |
Total Weight | 5.422 tons |
Dimensions (Metric) | 28.457 x 14.598 x 10.338 m |
Dimensions (Imperial) | 93.36 x 47.89 x 33.92 feet |
Program Version | 5.23.02 |
![Cutting Half a Sphere](/en/webimage/009386/2418529/01-en-png.png?mw=512&hash=e5b08a40fd9a5a16825be6182b3138f78627561e)
![Membrane Meshing](/en/webimage/009962/2421635/01-en-png-png.png?mw=512&hash=6ca63b32e8ca5da057de21c4f204d41103e6fe20)
![DXF Export with 3DFACE Elements](/en/webimage/009949/2421518/01-en-png-png.png?mw=512&hash=6ca63b32e8ca5da057de21c4f204d41103e6fe20)
![General Data](/en/webimage/009780/2420360/01-en-png-png.png?mw=512&hash=6ca63b32e8ca5da057de21c4f204d41103e6fe20)
![Activated Display Option: Topology on Form-Finding Form](/en/webimage/006807/1584412/ff_en-us-png.png?mw=512&hash=94b5759319b2121bb6599f91ab7f09d306687771)
With the activated option 'Topology on Form-Finding Form' in Project Navigator - Display, the model display is optimized based on the form-finding geometry. For example, the loads are displayed in relation to the deformed system.
!["Show Preliminary Form-Finding" Option in Shortcut Menu](/en/webimage/006853/1585587/formfinding-en-us-png.png?mw=512&hash=5ac96ae2cf6fc509d84c9690ca4f8cfabc3db135)
Activating 'Show Form-Finding' in the shortcut menu leads to an automatic preliminary form-finding according to the saved form-finding properties when you change the structure of membrane surfaces. This interactive graphics mode is based on the force density method.
More Information FAQ![RFEM RF-FORM-FINDING Add-on Module | Form-Finding of Membrane and Cable Structures](/en/webimage/002861/3064920/121_Zeltgruppe_(1).png?mw=512&hash=029740dfa799337fbd84aed6cbf18113b717f8fb)
- Form-finding of:
- tension-loaded membrane and cable structures
- compression-loaded shell and beam structures
- mixed tension- and compression-loaded structures
- Consideration of gas chambers between surfaces
- Interaction with supporting structure (substructure design according to various standards)
- Surfaces as a 2D and members as a 1D element
- Definition of different prestress conditions for surfaces (membranes and shells)
- Definition of forces or geometrical requirements for members (cables and beams)
- Consideration of individual loads (self‑weight, inner pressure, and so on) in the form‑finding process
- Temporary support definitions for the form-finding process
- Automatic preliminary form-finding of membrane surfaces (more information...)
- Definition of isotropic or orthotropic material for structural analysis
- Optional definition of free polygon loads
- Transformation of form‑found shape elements into NURBS surface elements
- Possibility of combined form-finding by integration of preliminary form-finding
- Graphical evaluation of the new form using colored coordinates and inclination plots
- Complete documentation of the calculation including user-defined adaptive evaluation figures
- Optional export of the FE mesh as a DXF or Excel file
![Add-on "Steel Joints for RFEM 6" | Component Library](/en/webimage/043097/3898884/steel_joints_components.png?mw=512&hash=e4f835906155863fc7019d5043b22e553dc766f9)
- Numerous component types, such as base and end plates, web angles, fin plates, gusset plates, stiffeners, tapers, or ribs for easy input of typical connection situations
- Universally applicable basic components (such as plates, welds, bolts, auxiliary planes) for modeling complex connection situations
- Graphical display of the connection geometry with dynamic updating during the input
- Wide range of cross-section shapes: I-sections, U-sections, angles, T-sections, hollow sections, built-up cross-sections and thin-walled sections
- Library in the Dlubal Center with a large number of program-side template connections, including user-defined templates
- Automatic adaptation of the connection geometry based on the relative arrangement of the components to each other – even in case of subsequent editing of the structural components