Paper 427_final 09/06/05 10:52 am Page 1

New Trade Fair in Milan – Grid

Topology and Structural
Behaviour of a Free-Formed
Glass-Covered Surface
Jörg Schlaich, Hans Schober and Kai Kürschner

Schlaich Bergermann und Partner GmbH, Hohenzollernstrasse 1, D-70178 Stuttgart, Germany

(Received 17th February 2005)

ABSTRACT: The connecting links between the exhibition pavilions of the

new trade fair in Milan are mostly covered by innovative steel-glass-structures
which are very attractive from an architectural point of view. At the main
entrance the ‘Logo’ arises: A doubly-curved free-formed surface, which
ascends to the sky like a volcano. With a height of 37 m, this structure will be
identified from afar as the new fair’s landmark. Further, a 1,300 m long and
30 m wide free-formed glass roof, the so-called ‘Vela’, links the individual
exhibition halls along the main axis of the trade fair and reflects the nearby
Alps in its architectural appearance. Emphasizing the ‘Logo’, besides the
overall architectural concept, this paper mainly deals with the basic principles
for the development of the grid topology and the characteristics of the
structural system of the arbitrary curved free-formed surfaces.

1 INTRODUCTION Bergermann und Partner (Stuttgart/Germany). The

In Milan, world famous for its fashion shows, the
entire trade fair will be moved to a new location. The
new fairgrounds are located northwest of Milan in
Pero on the easily accessible premises of an old
refinery. In addition to eight exhibition halls covering
an region of approximately 80,000 m2, there will be a
plenary assembly hall as well as four administrative
buildings (Fig. 1). The architectural heart of the new
fairgrounds are their innovative steel-glass-structures:
the ‘Logo’ (Italian for symbol) as the fairgrounds’
landmark at the main entrance, and the ‘Vela’ (Italian
for sail) as the link between the individual halls. The
architect Massimiliano Fuksas conceived the overall
design and the master plan for this project. No
information about the net typology and the details of
either the Vela nor the Logo was given in the tender.
In late summer of 2003 Mero, the well-known
Würzburg/Germany based company, was awarded the
contract thanks to a structural concept designed in
collaboration with our consultancy Schlaich
new trade fair is to open in April 2005, after only two
and a half years of construction.
At the main entrance the ‘Logo’, defined by the
architect as a double-curved free-formed surface,
spans the entrance hall and leads the visitor first to the
Vela-roof and then to the individual halls (Figs. 2 and
3). The Logo, 22 to 37 m wide and 119 m long, is
embedded in the ‘Centro Servizi’. Like a volcano the
structure soars 37 m thus being easily recognized
from afar as the symbol of the new trade fair (Figs. 4
and 5). The plane non-curved region of the roof is
located at approximately 10 m height. The glass- and
aluminium-cladding placed directly on the steel
structures covers 4.300 m2.
The Vela-roof (Figs. 6 and 7), free-formed and
doubly-curved only partially, spans the linear east-
west-passage at an average height of approximately
16 m. The roof links the individual exhibition halls
over a length of 1,300 m and 32 to 41 m across. As a
rule, the steel-glass-roof rests on tree-columns, but

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface
Figure 1. New trade fair in Milan at a glance (graphic:
architect Fuksas)
Figure 2. Main entrance of the new trade fair in Milan with
Logo-roof (surface model)
Figure 3. Logo-roof (interior view)
sometimes it also touches the ground with its full- or
half-volcanoes (Fig. 8), or in some cases rests on
buildings underneath. This results in a height profile
ranging from 0 to 26 m. The glazing, placed directly
on the steel structure and covering 46,300 m2,
2 International Journal of Space Structures Vol. 20 No. 1 2005
Figure 4. Logo-roof (exterior view from south)
Figure 5. Logo-roof (exterior view from east)
emphasizes the lightness of the structure which seems
to float above the smaller structural units. The free-
formed surface developed by the architect M. Fuksas
incorporates the nearby Alps into the shape of the roof.
2 DESIGN
Over the past years most free-formed light and
transparent glass roofs resulted from a close
collaboration between architects and engineers.1, 2, 3
Either the architect followed and refined the engineers
proposal or in an iterating process the architect’s initial
form was jointly adjusted until the result satisfied
aesthetic, economic and static requirements. Visually,
it was acclaimed by the whole team that a smooth and
clean flow of forces and suitable provisions for a
straight-forward fabrication resulted “automatically”
in visual beauty and quality as a result of discipline. In
the case of this project, however, our part entailed the
development of a load bearing structure for a free-
formed roof shape sketched by the architect without
interaction with an engineer.
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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner

Side View (from South)

Part 1.1 ÷ 1.6 (Lot 1)

East Entrance

Part 2.1 ÷ 2.6 (Lot 2)

Perspective

Lot 1

East Entrance
Lot 2
West Entrance
Access via Logo
Length of about 1.3 km

Figure 6. Vela-roof covering of the central axis (surface model)

The Vela-roof designed by the architect Fuksas

Figure 7. Vela-roof covering of the central axis
(surface model)
Figure 8. Vela-roof with full- and half-volcano as well as
tree-columns at the east entrance
contains plane non-curved regions as well as regions
with substantial single or double curvature, and
synclastic as well as anticlastic curvature (Fig. 6). The
preferred choice for the non-curved regions is an even
quadrangular grid arranged diagonally to satisfy
architectural aspects (Fig. 7). In the transition to the
curved regions the warp of the quadrangular meshes
tends to exceed the limit set for plane glass, thus
necessitating the subdivision into triangular meshes
(Fig. 9). The diagonally arranged quadrangular mesh
also makes up the main structure of the Vela-roof
which descends into the funnels, the so-called
volcanoes (Fig. 8), like a helix (see Section 3 of this
paper). In order to permit the main quadrangular grid
to prevail visually only small profiles are used for the
additional diagonals in the curved regions (Figs. 8 and
15).
Though this roof follows a strange geometry and
shape, from an engineering point of view the
developed structural concept is conclusive. It allows
structural and visual smooth transitions between the
diverse regions.
The plane regions acting in pure bending with tall
T-profiles allow the use of simple four-bar-nodes and
plane quadrangular panes which is cost-efficient. The
tree-columns, with six branches each, support the
plane roof at regular intervals and permit identical

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface
Figure 9. Transition from a flat in a curved region of the
Vela-roof during erection
profiles in both directions. The two inner branches also
serve as drainage.
In the doubly-curved regions with warped
quadrangular grid the additional diagonals, necessary
for covering with plane glass panes, transform the
structure into a shell, making optimum use of the
double curvature for carrying the loads and permitting
larger support-free regions.
The Vela-roof rests mainly on tree-columns and
partially, via the turned-down volcanoes and half-
volcanoes, either directly on foundations or on
buildings beneath the roof (Fig. 8). The 1,300 m long
roof is divided into twelve regions each approximately
100 m in length, with floating fix-points at the tree-
columns and stationary fix-points at the volcanoes to
control the deformations due to temperature variation.
Visual considerations determined the shape of the tree-
supports and their points of support within the net.
The Logo-roof, which is mostly doubly-curved and
again completely free-formed, calls for triangular
meshing as the obvious choice to meet the requirement
of an efficient load bearing behaviour as a shell. Here
the triangular grid is also developed from diagonally
arranged squares, since a flat square grid follows
immediately to the north (Fig. 2). The similarity to the
Vela-roof, though in this case with homogenous
profiles, was welcome.
However, a triangular doubly-curved grid as such
does not yet suffice for an efficient shell action. The
overall form and even more the support conditions
have to be shell-compatible as well. The purely
architectural surface of course could not meet these
requirements. According to Figures 2 and 10a the rims
of the roof could only be supported vertically at 10 m
height and, in addition, the architectural surface
entered initially the supported edge even horizontally!
Of course, the resulting gigantic bending moment in
the shell called for very tall profiles which could no
4 International Journal of Space Structures Vol. 20 No. 1 2005
longer be reasonably joined at the nodes due to large
rotation angles of the bars in the doubly-curved
regions. Therefore, a certain adjustment of the form
was imperative.
In case of grid structures with one prevailing load
configuration the geometrical form may be found by
distinctly reducing or mostly avoiding the bending
moments. In this case the geometry may be determined
using a three-dimensional turned up suspended
membrane under dead load. Contrary to the arch, a
shell with ideal support conditions has numerous
different surfaces satisfying membrane action (no
bending) which may be determined by varying the
membrane’s state of stress. The result of such form
finding may cause deviations from the initial form
which the architect might deem unacceptable (Figs.
10a and 10b). Figure 10c presents the realized surface
of the Logo, a “compromise” between the initial
surface designed by the architect and the surface
derived by form finding. This “engineering process” of
form finding will be further described below.
A different type of form finding was used for the
Logo in order to meet the architect’s vision and to
improve the overall load bearing behaviour in favour
of smaller profiles. Based on the grid resulting from
the architect’s initial surface the material parameters of
the grid were modified and with the turned up
suspended model new geometries under dead load
were determined iteratively. Thus, after only five
iterations the maximum equivalent stress could be
reduced to 44% of that of the initial form with hardly
any noticeable change in geometry.
Contrary to form finding with only the membrane-
type load transfer, this approach of form finding
allows not only moderate bending moments, but also
compensates for extremes occurring locally (Fig. 11).
The Logo-geometry generated by this procedure
helped solve many manufacturing problems and also
corresponded very well with the architect’s vision
(Figs. 10a and 10c).
3 NET GEOMETRY
3.1 General
What follows describes one of the methods to generate
a suitable net geometry on a given free-formed
surface. Further details on the characteristics of nets on
free-formed surfaces are given in References 3 and 4.
The main objective in the choice of the layout was
the transformation of the quadrangular grid from the
non-curved regions to a triangular grid in the curved
regions. The necessity of a homogenous and floating
transition leads to a basic principle for the
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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner

a. Initial Surface by Architect

b. Surface by Form Finding

c. Realized Surface

Cover:
Hints: – Only the curved roof area is shown.
Glass
– All figures are in the same scale.
Aluminium

Figure 10. Comparison of the initial surface given by the architect with a surface derived by form finding as against the realized
surface – Views from south (left) and east (right)

visualization of the grid: The flow of grid lines should
reflect the flow of forces corresponding to the
individual form!
For example, in regions where the flat roof seems to
float to the ground the generated grid structure should
also reflect this movement. Here the bars should be
aligned continuously without any significant kinks or
voids in the net. In spite of purely aesthetic features the
structural and manufacturing aspects had to dominate
the generation of the net:

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface

a. Before Form-Adjustment (= Initial Surface by Architect)

b. After Form-Adjustment

Hint:

4.0 3.6 3.1 2.7 2.2 1.8 1.3 0.9 0.4 0

Figure 11. Qualitative equivalent stresses before and after form adaptation (Logo in plan view)

• The length of the bars was not to exceed 3 m,
because otherwise the thickness of the glass
earmarked for both roofs might no longer be
sufficient and the profiles might also become too
tall.
• The bars were not to be shorter than 80 cm; or else
the nodes would be too close and the glass panes
would become disproportionally small.
• The angles between the bars were to be at least 20°,
but preferably larger than 30° to avoid a more
severe slant of the bars at the node ends.
The grid structure is generated from a diagonally
arranged quadrangular meshed grid. For the Logo this
grid pattern consists of square meshes, 2.7 m long
diagonals and 1.91 m long bars. For the Vela the
meshes are rhombic, the diagonals are 2.7 m and
2.25 m in length and the bars 1.76 m long. After
extensive studies several procedures were developed
to generate the meshes for the transition region from
square meshes in the plane to triangular meshes in the
curved regions. In what follows a brief description is
given of only those procedures as used for the new
trade fair in Milan.
3.2 Mesh in Flat and Nearly Non-Curved
Regions
In the flat and nearly non-curved regions of the roof a
constant square meshed net is projected vertically
from the horizontal onto the surface (Figs. 7 and 12).
With a vertical projection on slightly inclined surfaces
the geometrical characteristic values of the net change:
The bars extend and the mesh angles increase or

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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner

decrease respectively. However, if the inclinations and

curvatures of the surface are not too severe, the lengths
of the bars and the angles of the panes remain within
the limits mentioned above.
3.3 Mesh in the Half-Volcanoes
For regions with steeper inclinations and curvatures
such as the half-volcanoes (Fig. 12), a vertical
projection is not the right choice to generate the net
because of the large warp of the meshes. For these
cases the following procedure was developed.
a. Introduction and Division of Longitudinal Diagonals

Nearly Non-Curved Region

(Vertical Projection)

• b. Development and Division of Transverse Diagonals

Half-Volcano

Figure 12. Mesh in the nearly non-curved region and in the

half-volcano

After a vertical projection according to Section 3.2

the mesh which does not meet the geometrical limits
stated above is removed. In correspondence to the
mesh in the nearly non-curved regions two or three so-
called longitudinal diagonals are drawn as curves on c. Iteration of Step a. and b., Development Bars
the unmeshed surface in the curved regions (Fig. 13a).
The curves start or end on the nodes in the existing
nearly non-curved mesh. Then they are subdivided
into equal segments with so-called segment points in-
between. In the next step additional curves, the so-
called transverse diagonals, are drawn perpendicular
to the existing mesh through all these segment points
(Fig. 13b). These transverse diagonals also start on the
nodes of the nearly non-curved net and run down
almost perpendicular to the rim. Starting from the
nearly flat net regions these transverse diagonals are Additional Bars
also subdivided evenly resulting in new segment
d. Finished Mesh Pattern with Transverse Diagonals
points. These new segment points help to relocate the
longitudinal diagonals in an improved position. This
procedure is repeated until an even and homogenous Figure 13. Basic procedure for the mesh development in the
grid is obtained (Fig. 13c). Adding transverse half-volcano region

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface

diagonals as secondary elements to the grid creates the choices result in a homogeneous and steady mesh.
final triangular mesh (Fig. 13d). Radial bars oriented in the fall lines of the volcano
In Figure 13d series of bars close to the volcano subdivide the quadrangular panes into triangular panes
base are added since it is impossible within certain (Fig. 15). A circular arrangement of the bars
limits to create a net for the volcano surface, which is perpendicular to the fall lines are basically also
much larger than the projection screen, by using the possible, but it does not correspond to the flow of
same number of bars without significantly extending forces.
the bars. However, these additional series of bars are
located only at the base of the half-volcano and they
run out at the edge of the roof without affecting the net
in the inner roof regions.
3.4 Mesh in the Volcanoes
In contrast with the half-volcanoes the “full”
volcanoes have no lateral rims for the bars to run out.
Therefore, generating a net for the “full” volcanoes is
a much more complex procedure than the process used
for the half-volcanoes.
To avoid additional series of bars, the bars gradually
float into the volcanoes and spiral around the shaft like
a helix. Here it is essential to determine the “correct”
slope of the spiral. The net of the helix and the
surrounding net should be comparable in density; the
limit of the mesh angle in the helix net has to be
observed and there should be a smooth transition from
the surrounding net bars and the spiral bars without
any kinks and voids.

Pentagon due to
mesh alternation

o o

Figure 15. Glazed steel structure with radial bars

o (view from the inside of a volcano)
Transition Line o

3.5 Mesh of the Logo-Roof

Figure 14. Net of a volcano with four transition points and
four transition lines
In the transition from the nearly non-curved
surrounding net to the helix net several pentagonal
meshes occur in the four so called transition points
(Fig. 14). In order to subdivide these pentagonal
meshes into two square meshes each, four transition
lines from the surrounding net enter the helix net at
these four points. The most important aspect when
generating this net is the arrangement of both the
transition points and lines, because only the “correct”
The Logo-roof consists basically of a flat region and
two adjacent volcanoes; one of which is pointing
downwards, as in the Vela-roof, the other one is turned
around and points upwards (Fig. 2). The procedure
described in Section 3.4 leads to eight transition points
in this case. Their arrangement plays a decisive role in
the mesh generation (Fig. 16). With both volcanoes the
transition points have to be arranged and coordinated
to provide sufficient density for the spirals, as well as
allowing both helix nets to merge. The position of the
transition points is highly significant in the case of the
volcano pointing downwards, because here the basic
cross-section is not circular but oval, causing

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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner

Projected Net

Helix Net Helix Net

Transition Points

Figure 16. Mesh of the Logo-roof as a combination of two helix nets and a projection net

Figure 17. Covered steel structure with radial bars (interior view of Logo)

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface

Table 1. Structural data of the Vela-roof Table 2. Structural data of the Logo-roof

Figure 19. Principal geometry of a one-part node by Mero

relatively large variation in the mesh angles and bar

lengths. Again radial bars are used to divide the square
panes of both volcanoes. The mesh developed for the
Logo is shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 17.

Figure 18. Principal geometry of a two-part node by Mero
4 REALIZATION
The grid generated from free-formed surfaces is made
of approximately 16,500 nodes and 38,000 bars for the
Vela-roof and of approximately 1,500 nodes and 3,800
bars for the Logo-roof. All structural elements such as
nodes, bars and panes are basically defined by variable

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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner

geometric data resulting in a rather sophisticated connections, and to provide sufficient material for a
procedure for the manufacturing and the assembling bolt at the bottom (Fig. 20). For the nodes this results
process. Based on this primary structural procedure in four to six drill holes per dish. HV-bolts are used to
each element is directly assigned to a certain place in hold the main bars from within the node and the
the structure. Relatively sophisticated logistics are diagonal bars of the Vela-roof from outside of the
required for the identification and assignment of the node. The exterior plate diameter of 200 resp. 214 mm
individual elements. (Figs. 18 and 19) is needed to place the bolts during
The Logo- and Vela-structures consist basically of assembly.
welded S355-steel profiles and only in part of rolled
S355-steel profiles. An efficient assembly requires the
prefabrication of the individual structural elements
according to the assembly sequence and on-time
delivery to the construction site. On the site the parts
are usually bolted together with very little welding
situations only where is required. Tables 1 and 2 list
the structural data for the Vela- and the Logo-roof.
Both roofs have welded T-cross-sections as main
bars with webs normal to the roof surface, as can be
seen for example in Figures 15 and 17. Since the
flanges are at least 60 mm wide, they provide
sufficient width for the linear support of the panes.
These panes are clamped in points along their edges to
counteract wind suction.
The diagonal bars in the curved regions of the Vela-
roof are square hollow sections; in the case of the
Logo-roof they are welded T-profiles – like the main
bars – with their height ranging from 80 to 350 mm.
Usually the width of the flanges has to be increased Figure 20. Section from a non-curved region of the Vela-roof
from 80 up to 160 mm to provide lateral stability
against buckling around the weak axis (Section 5.3).
As depicted in Figure18 main and diagonal bars of
the roof taller than 160 mm enter dual nodes, which The node-dishes are produced from identical forged
are usually bolted and only rarely welded. Dividing blanks using CNC milling machines. Due to the
the nodes into two so-called node-dishes provides the varying geometry of the free-formed surface the drill
joints with high bending capacity, because the holes of the node-plate are always aligned differently.
connecting moments may be simply divided into a pair Therefore, despite serial production each node-plate is
of compressive and tensile forces.5 A typical node-dish unique.
is a monolithic forged part consisting of a dish wall The Vela-roof is primarily supported by 183 tree-
with the drill holes for the bolts and a dish bottom. columns at regular intervals of 16.2 m longitudinally
For the roof regions of the Logo with bars less high and 13.5 m transversally. At approximately 3/4 of the
than 160 mm only single nodes are used (Fig. 19). height, the architecturally designed columns diverge
These nodes are designed as pipes instead of dishes. into four outer and two inner branches. The roof is
However, to provide the nodes with sufficient load rigidly fixed to the top of these branches. To enhance
bearing capacity and stiffness, the wall thickness is the appearance of a floating roof the tips of these
increased accordingly. In these cases there are also branches are set at a certain distance perpendicular to
usually two bolts per bar end. Due to the complex the roof.
geometry of the single and dual nodes Mero conducted The Logo-roof is mostly supported vertically by the
a multitude of tests with respect to the load bearing surrounding buildings and in some regions
capacity and the stiffness of the nodes. horizontally at 10 m height along its curved
The bars of the roof with a T-cross-section are borderline. At the bottom of the volcano a foundation
strengthened near the joint by a bottom flange to a provides the bending-stiff restraint for the roof. In
double-T-cross-section to avoid eccentricities in the addition, the flat roof regions received six supports.

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Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface
Glass as well as aluminium elements are used as
cladding. The dividing line between these two follows
the underlying steel structure (Figs. 2 and 10c). Due to
the rather large bi-axial curvature in some regions of
the surface and the resulting varying twists of the bars’
upper edges, the cladding is not continuously
supported as for the Vela, but rests on points at about
63 mm above these upper edges. Two to three point-
supports are placed at each upper edge.
For the drainage of the nearly non-curved regions of
the Vela-roof a hypar-type rise is placed close to a
support allowing the water to run off through the two
inner branches of the tree-columns. The rise is
designed to ensure a sufficient slope of the roof for
serviceable drainage under full load. In the flat region
of the Logo-roof the water runs off towards the edges.
5 ANALYSIS
5.1 General
For the Logo-roof which is significantly more
complex than the Vela-roof the following analytical
procedure was used. Only the steel structure was
considered, neglecting the stabilizing effect from the
glazing.
As already described in Section 2, the architectural
concept of these free-formed surfaces resulted in
highly inhomogeneous stresses. If no geometrical
optimisation was possible, the resulting forces are
difficult to manage. Consequently, for the Logo-roof a
local improvement of the form according to Figure 10
was inevitable. However, inhomogeneous stresses still
occur and are counteracted by optimising almost every
bar. Nearly each bar is used to its full capacity. As a
result the profile data of each bar is different. The
governing criterion is that all bar ends connecting to a
Figure 21. Distribution of node heights and heights of T-sections in the Logo-roof
12
node must have a constant profile height (Section 4).
When considering all load combinations, this iterative
optimisation procedure causes the heights of the
profiles and nodes to be distributed irregularly (Fig.
21), which in turn results in an inhomogeneous
distribution of the stiffness. All these characteristics
rather quickly lead to a complex structural behaviour
of this irregular structure, and therefore in-depth
examinations of the stability have to enter the
dimensioning process. Based on the different types of
failure, the stability analysis consists of two parts: for
local and for global stability.
Figure 22 shows the bending moments and axial
forces in the curved regions under dead load and under
full snow load to clarify the distribution of the bar
lengths of the T-profiles. There are still relatively great
bending moments and consequently high profiles to
the east and the north of the volcano, despite a certain
adjustment of the surface which in comparison to the
initial surface exhibits a definite improvement of the
carrying behaviour. In both volcano shafts the axial
shell stresses exceed the bending stresses, finally
resulting in significantly shorter profiles. The support
in the north-western part of the Logo-roof is
incompatible with a shell, thus causing large
horizontal tension forces in the edge support due to
deviation, which require additional anchors in the roof.
Due to the size and the complex geometry of the
spatial structures extensive wind tunnel tests were
carried out at the Politecnico di Milano with rigid
models followed by dynamic tests with elastic models.
5.2 Dimensioning Procedure
For preliminary dimensioning the grid geometry was
transformed into a relatively fine horizontal layer
model to permit the “horizontal” optimisation of the
Node Heights and 80 240
Height of T-Sections 120 275
160 350
[mm] 200 Tapered Bars
Column
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J. Schlaich, H. Schober and K. Kürschner
a. Bending Moments
+150 kNm –300 kNm
Figure 22. Bending moments and axial forces in the curved region of the Logo-roof under full load
sections. Then the sections were optimised in parts,
even across several layers for the relevant load cases to
obtain a constant stress exploitation. In the next step
the local stability (flexural buckling, lateral torsional
buckling, local buckling in individual parts of the
section) and the global stability (analysis of global
buckling, ultimate load analyses for the perfect and
imperfect structure) were examined (Sections 5.3 and
5.4).
The computer program Sofistik8 was used for the
non-linear geometrical and linear physical calculations
based on the finite elements method. The bars were
checked with the elastic-elastic method in accordance
with the German code DIN 18800-1.6
5.3 Local Stability
For the analysis of the local stability the individual
bars are resolved from the spatial grid structure and
investigated individually. The following types of local
failure were observed: local buckling of an individual
bar (flexural buckling and lateral torsional buckling),
snapping of an individual node and buckling in parts
of the sections.
These checks called for local strengthening
especially around the weak axis of the 3 m up to 3.8 m
long diagonals which experience large axial forces in
combination with high bending moments (Fig. 22).
Therefore, the flanges were widened in 20-mm-steps,
starting with 80 mm and up to 160 mm. An increase in
the height would have resulted in disproportionally tall
profiles.
5.4 Global Stability
To assess the global stability for the imperfect
structure a global buckling analysis with subsequent
stress checks and checks according to the equivalent
International Journal of Space Structures Vol. 20 No. 1 2005
b. Axial Forces
+1.300 kN –1.300 kN
member method were conducted, as well as ultimate
load analyses for the perfect and imperfect structure.
The analysis of the local buckling started with the
determination of the buckling characteristics and the
relevant factors for increasing the load in significant
load cases. Here, mathematically the ultimate load
factors are the intrinsic values, where the determinant
of the structure’s tangent stiffness matrix reaches zero.
The system becomes at least partially instable when
the first intrinsic value reaches its relevant load level,
which may also be determined by calculating the load
bearing capacity. In case of a local instability the
structure loses stiffness there, causing a redistribution
of the action effects and a change of the load bearing
behaviour, which may lead to a further increase of the
ultimate load capacity.
The second step was the analysis of the residual
buckling forms in accordance with DIN 18800-27
taking the largest wave on the safe side as to L/200,
scaled on either side perpendicular to the surface and
transferred as global imperfection without any stress,
as reference on the perfect structure. It was taken into
consideration that the first buckling eigenshape used
as imperfection is not always the most critical one.
The third step entailed placing the design loads on
the imperfect structure again, the second order effects
were calculated again, and finally the stresses were
checked. To avoid a possible coupling of local and
global failure the bars were checked again for flexural
and lateral torsional buckling, but based on the
modified action effects.
The analysis of global buckling for the Logo-roof
brought evidence that the most critical zone is the
relatively filigree region of the volcano, with profile
heights of only 80 mm. Figure 23 shows three of the
13
Paper 427_final 09/06/05 10:54 am Page 14
Grid Topology and Structural Behaviour of a Free-Formed Glass-Covered Surface
1 6 SUMMARY AND FUTURE
3 and design of interesting space structures with free-
5
Figure 23. Sample buckling modes of he Logo-structure under
full load
first five buckling eigenshapes under an assumed,
evenly distributed snow load. The character of the
buckling eigenshapes does not change significantly
with a higher number of buckling eigenshapes, or
under different load combinations. The tower-like
region is relatively unaffected by local buckling. Since
the ultimate load factors resulting from the analysis of
the global buckling and from the examinations of the
load bearing capacity are generally high enough, no
additional strengthening is required for the volcano.
Apparently global imperfections have hardly any
affect on the entire structure. Contrary to the analyses
of the local stability, the analyses of the global stability
had only little effect on the dimensioning of the
profiles. This is due to the mostly significant
anticlastic curvature of the Logo-roof.
14
PROSPECTS
In recent years increasingly free-formed surfaces for
steel-glass-structures have become fashionable.3 The
procedure described above for generating the mesh
geometry, the form finding and the analysis of the load
bearing structure applies not only to the steel-glass-
structures of the new trade fair in Milan, but may in
general be applied to any free-formed surface.
Innovative software solutions support both
architects and structural engineers in the development
formed surfaces. However, they do not replace, but
rather challenge the engineer’s ability to create an
efficient structure from a free form. In addition to the
pure form finding and the structural analysis, several,
completely “new” problems with respect to the
detailing, the manufacturing and the assembling
process arise which have to be successfully solved
during design and realization.
INVOLVED PARTIES
Client: Nuovo Polo Fieristico S.c.r.l., Rome, Italy
Architect: Massimiliano Fuksas, Rome, Italy
Structural Schlaich Bergermann und Partner GmbH,
Stuttgart
Engineer: Markus Balz, Hauke Jungjohann, Stefan Justiz,
Tilman Schober
Contractor: Mero GmbH & Co. KG, Würzburg
REFERENCES
1. Schlaich, J., Schober, H., Helbig, T.: Eine verglaste
Netzschale: Dach und Skulptur, DG Bank am Pariser
Platz in Berlin, Bautechnik 78 (2001) Issue 7, pp.
457–463.
2. Schober, H.: Geometrie-Prinzipien für wirtschaftliche
und effiziente Schalentragwerke, Bautechnik 79 (2002),
Issue 1, pp. 16–24.
3. Schober, H.: ‘Freeform Glass Structures’, 8th Int.
Conference on Architectural and Automotive Glass,
Tampere (Finnland), June 2003, pp. 46–50.
4. Sanchez, J., Knebel, K., Stephan, S.: Stabwerke auf
Freiformflächen, Stahlbau 73 (2004), Issue 8, pp.
562–572.
5. Stephan, S., Stutzki, C.: Rechnerische Ermittlung der
Grenztragfähigkeit von Mehrschrauben-Verbindungen
bei Biegemoment-Normalkraft-Interaktion Knoten, pp.
573–587.
6. DIN 18800, Teil 1: Stahlbauten, Bemessung und
Konstruktion; November 1990.
7. DIN 18800, Teil 2: Stahlbauten, Stabilitätsfälle, Knicken
von Stäben und Stabwerken; November 1990.
8. SOFiSTiK AG, Nürnberg: Program modules SOFIPLUS
X, ASE and DYNA.
International Journal of Space Structures Vol. 20 No. 1 2005