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Tension structures


Tension structures include tents, air-supported roofs, sails and cable nets.
 
Research is concentrated on the definition of the form and the aero-elastic interaction of fabric and cable structures and the wind. Such structures have a much smaller mass than that of the air which moves with them as they deform. In addition their low stiffness is of the same order as the negative aerodynamic stiffness of the air flow and this is one of the main causes of instability which often manifests itself in the form of travelling waves.
 
The lightweight structures group have been responsible for the geometrical definition and structural analysis of many fabric structures and cable nets from the Munich Zoo Aviary to the Central Show nets in the Millennium Dome.
 

 
Munich AviaryAviary detail

 
  | Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering