Membrane structure

 Membrane structures are spatial structures made out of tensioned membranes. The
structural can be use of divided into pneumatic structure, tencil structure, and cable
domes. In these three kinds of structure, membranes cables, work together columns
construction members form and to with other find a form.
 Structure with a thin, flexible that carries loads primarily through tensile stresses.

Materials that are commonly used

 Cotton canvas
 PVC coated polyester fabric
 PTFE coated glass
 Translucent polyethylene fabric

Application of membrane structure:

 Facade
 Roof skin
 Indoor ceilings
 Skylights
 Free-standing buildings
 Buildings envelopes

Types of membrane structure

1. Pneumatic structure
Membrane structure that is stabilized by the pressure of compressed air. Air supported
structures are supported by internal air pressure. A network of cables stiffens the fabric, and the
assembly is supported by a rigid ring at the edge. The air pressure within this bubble is increased slightly
above normal atmospheric pressure and maintained by compressors or fans. Air locks are required at
entrances to prevent loss of internal air pressure

Pneumatic structure
Advantage

 Lightweight
 Covers large spans without internal supports
 Portability
 Rapid assembly and have low initial and operating costs

Dis-advantage

 Need for continuous maintenance of excess pressure in the envelope

 Relatively short service life
 Continuous operation of fans to maintain pressure
 Cannot reach the insulation values of hard-walled structures
Materials of pneumatic structure

 Fiberglass
 Polyester
 PTFE
 Nylon
 Steel cables
 Ballasts

2. Tensile structure

A tensile structure is construction of elements carrying a only tension and no compression or

bending. The term tensile should not be confused with tensegrity, which is a structural form with
both tension and compression elements. Tensile structures are the most common type of thin-
shell structures. A tensile membrane structure is most often used as a roof, as they can
economically and attractively span large distances.

Materials of tensile structure

Exterior

 PVC (poly polyester cloth vinyl chloride) coated

 PTFE (poly tetra fluro ethlene) (teflon) coated glass cloth

Interior

 Cottons are most economical and are available wide range of colors. Due to their susceptibility to
staining and shrinkage they are ideally suited for short term use or where a softer and more
natural texture is required.
 Silicon coated glass cloth is being used for its high fire resistance and low relative fore toxicity
but tends to attract dirt.
 Pure glass meshes can be used in exhibition halls when fire standards are very stringent. Some
ceiling systems demand open meshes that allow water sprinkler systems to operate through
them.

Example structures
The millennium dome
Created exhibition mark as space the an to 2000 millennium, the dome has a floor plan diameter
of 365m, one meter for each day of the year and the structure is supported by 12 representing masts,
the months of the year. Time is an important reference in this structure as it is built at greenwich.
Denver international airport
Completed in 1994 and is the world's third largest airport. The teflon coated fiberglass roof of the
airport is designed to resemble the peeks of the roch-ky mountains in winter, snow capped the with
tensile structure has stood the test of time and the structure hasn't completely failed under the extreme
conditions experiences. Weather that it experiences.
 3. Cable domes

The cable dome was first proposed by geiger and first employed in the roofs for the olympic
gymnastics hall and the fencing hall in seoul (geiger, 1986). Due to their innovative forms and
lightweight, cable domes have become popular as roofs for structures including arenas, stadiums and
sport centers over the past two decades.

Materials of cable domes

A typical cable dome consists of ridge cables, diagonal cables, hoop cables, vertical struts, an
inner tension ring and an outer compression ring. To ensure the structural feasibility, continuous cables
are often subjected to tension and individual struts subjected to compression. The rigidity of the dome
is a result of self-stress equilibrium between cables and struts.

Example structures

 La plata stadium in argentina

 Tao-yuan country arena in taiwan

RRL
Millennium Dome, London
The Millennium Dome was designed by Richard Rogers Architects, in coordination with Happold
structural engineers. Built on a 180 acre site, on the 'Greenwich Peninsula' is one of the largest tensile
constructions ever built, and the iconic symbol of modern architecture in London.

Richard Rogers Architects, Millennium Dome tensile structure, London

Millennium Dome, as well called The O2, at the time it was built had the world's largest roof, with diameter of 365
meters - symbolizing the number of days of the year. The height of the Millennium Dome is 50 meters, and if
including the support towers 100 meters. Inside we can find 30 commercial halls, of which the largest is the O2
Arena, which is intended for up to 24 000 people, what makes it the largest Multi-Purpose Hall in Europe

The Millennium Dome was built to house a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the millennium. It
opened on January 1, 2000 and closed on December 31 of that same year.

The original exhibition complex was demolished, but the shell of the dome remains, the costs of maintaining it are
approximately £1 million per month. The Millennium Dome is now center piece of the O₂ entertainment district
with an indoor arena, exhibition space, a music club, a cinema, bars, and restaurants. The facility will also be used
to host the basketball and gymnastics competitions in the 2012 Olympic Games. The public monies expended in
the Dome construction and maintenance will be recouped to a modest degree through this converted temporary
use.

Although it is called dome, in reality it is not. It is a cable-suspended membrane structure, due to its physical
properties it cannot withhold its own weight and require structural support of a cable network and structural
masts. In the plan view it resembles a large white tent with yellow masts, one for each month or for every hour of
a clock face.

Structure of interior, Millennium Dome Roof plan, Millennium Dome

The canopy is made of glass fiber cloth coated with PTFE, a durable and resistant to harsh and rainy weather
plastic, which has an estimated minimum lifetime of 30 years. The entire roof structure weighs less than the
pressured air contained within the building. Roof symmetry is interrupted by a ventilation hole at shaft Black Wall
Tunnel.

The project was frequently discussed by the press, regarded as the failure- poorly planned, badly carried out and
leaving the government with problem of what to do with it later. Numerous changes at management and
leadership before and during the exhibition, had limited or no results. A total of 7 million people visited the
exposition, compared to the original estimate of 12 million visitors.

628£ million was used to finance the project, making it one of the most expensive tensile membrane structures
ever made. There was a widely discussed controversy and public energy expended in delving into the reasons why
the Dome project failed to live up to expectations are the further hidden costs, that arise during implementation
process, that are never to be recovered. The cost of Dome cannot be rationalized very readily and ultimate worth
of the project should be measured by how well future mega projects will be handled.

Unlike the press, reports from visitors were extremely positive, but still the building was not as big success as
planned, now being only partly used.

Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

The Allianz Arena was designed by Herzog and de Meuron Architects with co-operation with Arep structural
engineers. Its floor space is 171.000 m², it has a use of football stadium and is located at the northern end of the
Munich. The constriction took place from autumn 2002 to spring 2005, its total costs amount 375 million €,
included 11 million for the cover, excluding steelwork. With a surface of 65,000 square meters, it resulted in a
price of 170 € per square meter.

On the sides facade stretches with its elegant canopies made with eight-meter-long honey-combs, showing
artistic approach towards architecture and engineering. It was the architects' intention, to create a metaphorical
ropes connected in the ring shape, to wrap around the stadium to bond the audience together.

The nuance about the stadium is that in the evening the facade glow from a distance, the inflated cushions are lit
internally with LED lighting to make them shine in varying shades, with the symbolic colour of currently paying
team, red for FC Bayern Munich games, blue for those of TSV 1860 and white for neutral games.

Arena lit in different colours, depending on an event

Pads with an area of 35 square meters each are made of a diamond metal panels covered with cushins made of
ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer) at a pressure of 35 hPa, and each one of them has a slightly
different shape.

Arena membrane skin consists of a 2874 such air bags with a total area of 64.000 square meters. It is the world's
largest roof made of foil. This film has a thickness of only 0.2 mm and transports up to 98% of UV rays. The
cushions consist of two single layers made of the thin foil. Both foils, the upper and lower, need a pre-stress to
bear the external loads, like wind uplift, wind download and snow load without wrinkles
"This was the first really large pressurized-cushion ETFE structure built. There were some design problems to
resolve because of its scale, but it's really a multiplication of design elements that were already proven. When we
first saw Herzog & de Meuron's design proposal, they wanted to use polycarbonate panels, but we recommended
the use of pressurized ETFE cushions, due to the fact that this material won't burn without a supporting heat
source. Its transparency also allowed us to fulfill the lighting element of their design proposal. From a design
perspective, it was fortunate that we were able to change from the initial concept of polycarbonate panels to the
ETFE cushions," adds Hupe "We were able to increase the size of the diamond-shaped elements to more closely
match the architectural scale of the structure"

Richard Fuchs, managing director of R+R Fuchs Ingenieurbüro für Fassadentechnik, the structural engineering firm
responsible for the façade

ETFE membrane, Allianz Arena Construction of Allianz Arena

The choice for this material was made at an early design stage, at a time when ETFE was still quite unpopular and
only sparse references of small surfaces could be shown to prove the feasibility of the concept. Every panel has a
transparent inner. Those forming the facade have a translucent white outer, but the roof panels are completely
transparent, allowing sunshine and light to fall onto the pitch. To provide sun- and noise protection during events,
variable curtains are arranged below the roof structure and as a roof canopy is movable it can be slide to the side,
as weather conditions allow. Big ventilators located under the stadium, have to pump up air into the structural
membrane panels.
 Site and Roof plan of Allianz Arena

The construction of the stadium is a concrete bowl and steel truss roof construction, providing high load bearing
capacity and low friction force. The structural system for the bowl is based on multi-storey reinforced concrete
sway frames with some stability provided by the eight stair and lift cores. The frames are approximately 8m apart
and placed concentrically on 96 gridlines around the pitch. Some variants and auxiliary gridlines were required in
the corners.

The main beams are arranged radially with a diamond-shaped grid spans, structure loads are sustained on 48
main cantilever beams, made of parabolic steel truss girders, approximately 65 m long and weighing up to 106 t.
A Secondary roof structure forms a rhomboidal 'steel net' within which the panels are supported. Membranes are
stretched in between, with
connections made by clamping a
line welded over the edge of the
covering skin, required due to the
spatial geometry of the
connections. A special
calculations and planning was
necessary to calculate and
implement such advances
structure. Project was developed
using Arup engineers specially
developed parametric stadium
design software. The installation
was implemented without
scaffolding, but by means of
specially trained free- climbers.
Sections, Allianz Arena

Basing on the above researched case studies I can say that Tensional Structures can be successfully applied in
various construction types and both big and small projects can advantage from its uncial properties.

Reference:

https://issuu.com/p.pecina/docs/application_of_tensile_membrane_structures_in_arch

https://www.britannica.com/technology/membrane-structure

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/421566733/Membrane-Structure