Calculation and Design of Membrane Structures with FEM-Based Software

Membrane structures are one of the current trends in civil engineering and architecture.

The shapes cannot be chosen freely since they must be physically suitable because the material used for tensile structures can withstand no bending or compression. Thus, it is necessary to use the shapes under tension. This is the first task to solve when designing membrane structures, involving both the architectural requirements and physical principles.

After the form-finding is performed, it is necessary to check the load-bearing capacity andother code-specific or investor’s requirements in structural analysis. The structural response of such structures is strongly nonlinear in terms of both the impact of geometry changes and material behavior.

If all the requirements are fulfilled, the structure can be fabricated. To make this step possible, it is necessary to generate cutting patterns as membrane structures exhibit double curvature and therefore, they have to be approximated by a certain amount of planar patterns.

The presented work will focus on all those steps. A theoretical introduction is presented in the first part of each chapter, then practical examples is shown to demonstrate the mentioned statements.