Structural Air – Pneumatic Structures

Bernd Stimpfle

Form TL Ingenieure für Tragwerk und Leichtbau GmbH, Kapellenweg 2b, 78315 Radolfzell,
Germany; E-mail:bernd.stimpfle@form-tl.de

Abstract. This paper shows the possibilities of pneumatic structures for practical applica-
tions. The basic principles of pneumatic structures are presented. A number of projects where
pneumatic technology is combined with conventional construction methods are presented.

Key words: pneumatic structures, construction.

1 Introduction
Pneumatic structures follow strict rules, which influence their form-finding and their
design process.
The form of a pneumatic structure always follows the formula:

p = nk/rk + ns/rs

with internal pressure p, membrane stress nk and ns and the radius of the curve rk
and rs.
This leads to three types: the classic air supported hall, the cushion structure and
the air beam.

2 Air Supported Hall

Air supported halls are fixed circumferentially to the foundation line and normally
they have a great synclastic curvature. The outer loads, which act towards the inside,
are supported by the air inside the hall. Loads which act towards the outside are
carried by the membrane and have mostly a tension increasing effect.

E. Oñate and B. Kröplin (eds.), Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures II, 233–252.
© 2008 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
234 B. Stimpfle

Fig. 1. Stress diagram.

Fig. 2. Principle sketch air supported hall, cushion structure and air beam.

3 Cushion Structure

Cushion structures are two layer, pneumatic structures. They are attached to an in-
ternal structure which is able to couple the high lateral forces of the border in the
cushion. Or they are set as a cover on a primary structure and guide the resulting
horizontal forces into the main structure.
The compression load on the cushion is carried by a pressure increasing on the
other side of the cushion. The suction load increases the membrane stress on the
upper side. Suctions loads result from the wind exclusively, therefore they are only
short-term loads. The pneumatic system is not able to react to the change of volume
resulting from an elongation of the upper layer, therefore the upper side has to take
only the wind load, without interaction of the internal pressure.

4 Air Beams
Without a perimeter beam, no cushion is formed, but depending on length or width
a sphere or a tube. Up to the exhaustion of the pretension the tube has to be seen as
a pipe and can be used as a compression strut or as a beam. Since the compression
and the bending lead to a reduction of the implemented volume, the inner pressure is
increased and therefore the pressure and bending resistance.
To take credit from this pressure increasing and to estimate surely the influence
of the pressure increasing, the calculated inner pressure is increased in an iterative
process until the equation p ∗ V = constant is fulfilled. Here p is the absolute
pressure based on the basic air pressure.