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Sustainable textile roofs in architecture and design
Published in Gianni Montagna, Cristina Carvalho, Textiles, Identity and Innovation: In Touch, 2020
The textile architecture has its origins in the nomads tents, and it is used in constructions of rapid assemblage, dissemble, and easy transport. The Tensile Roofs are constituted by membranes that have structural and fence functions. The tensile membranes are made of cloth, cables, structural elements, anchorage and foundations. They are classified in different types: tensile membrane structures, which act as fences and structures; tensile mesh structures, which function independently from the elements of the roofing; and pneumatic structures, which are supported by the air pressure. The mesh and fabrics of the membrane, the main building material used in the roofs and the structures of the textile architecture, are usually formed by orthogonal meshes of strings which vary in the thickness of strings and fabric, their type and quantity per cm². The tensile membranes have a support structure, organized by spatial cross-texture, which assure the structural efficiency. The supporting structures are resistant and light and generally have a transversal tubular section. Nowadays it is possible to consider a textile architecture with a permanent character (Eurocover; 2019). There is worldwide a diversity of textile architecture products available in the market made by several companies.
Roofings
Published in Michael McEvoy, External Components, 2014
There is no British Standard regulating the design of fabric membranes and, when compared with conventional fully supported roof coverings, their use is still fairly unusual. Consequently, insurance warranties may be difficult to obtain. Nevertheless, there are an ever-increasing number of applications resulting in visually interesting roofs. Membrane structures allow relatively large areas to be covered without internal supports and a wide variety of structural solutions are possible. The development of this form of construction has largely been the result of the introduction of sophisticated computer programs. They take into account the physical properties of the fabric and the amount of prestress to be put into it so as to develop a suitable structural shape and cutting schedules for the material.
Plastics
Published in Arthur Lyons, Materials for Architects and Builders, 2019
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-coated glassfibre woven fabrics are used for permanent tensile membrane structures. In a fire, PTFE gives off toxic combustion products, but only at temperatures above which any fabric would have already failed and vented the heat and smoke. With a fire rating of Class 0, PTFE-coated glassfibre tensile membranes are more expensive than the Class 1 rated PVC-coated polyesters but are generally more durable, with an anticipated lifespan in excess of 20–25 years. The low-friction PTFE surface has good self-cleaning properties. The durability of PVC-coated polyester materials is enhanced by the addition of a UV-resistant PVDF topcoat self-cleaning lacquering layer.
Study on winter thermal comfort of membrane structure gymnasium in severe cold region of China
Published in Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 2022
Yefei Bai, Lintao Zhao, Ru’ning Tang, Xiaolong Kang
Recently, with an increasing development in construction technologies, membrane structures have been extensively used worldwide since the 1950s (Zheng et al. 2013; Jia and Wang 2014). The membrane structures have a high technical content which integrates architecture, structural mechanics, fine chemical engineering and material science, and computer technology. These structures generally possess various advantageous characteristics including light weight, large span, short construction period, cost-effectiveness, ease in factory production, and beautiful shapes. In addition, membrane structures generally exhibit good durability, fire resistance, light transmittance, and self-cleaning properties (Zheng et al. 2013; Fajman et al. 2013; Yee and Hadi 2016; Tian et al. 2021a, 2021b). Therefore, the membrane structure is considered to be an ideal and artistic structural form, which is more frequently used in public buildings such as gymnasiums (Karwath 2011; Suo, Angelotti, and Zanelli 2015; Hu et al. 2017).
Material saving and building component efficiency as main eco-design principles for membrane architecture: case - studies of ETFE enclosures
Published in Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2021
Carol Monticelli, Alessandra Zanelli
The success of textile membranes has been often associated with the use of wide-span lightweight structures or with temporary installations. In both situations, textile technology prevails over other construction systems due to its very low weight (i.e. around 0.2–0.5 kg/sqm for transparent fluor-polymer systems up to 0.5–2 kg/sqm for multilayer textile membrane systems and for extreme loading situations). Fibers and polymer granulates (Table 1) can be combined in different ways, creating custom-made materials. Nevertheless, this wide range of potentiality has not yet been fully exploited by designers. As much as 90% of membrane structures are made of a very limited range of available products, while the most of textile architectures today is referring to a selection of few flexible composites, such as PVC/Polyester (used in form of waterproof fabric or sun shading open mesh), PTFE/Glass, Silicon/Glass, ePTFE fabric (Tenara®) and ETFE films, the last one mainly used for transparent pneumatic cushions. The technological transfer from automotive and nautical fields allows an ever-growing innovation in the field. Precisely this seems to be the direction in which the new research on lightweight fabric architecture will have to go, in order to obtain more efficient and performative building materials, while maintaining awareness towards the environmental issues at the same time Figure 1.
Reliability-based analysis of a cable-net structure and membrane structure designed using partial factors
Published in Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2021
Elien de Smedt, Marijke Mollaert, Maarten Van Craenenbroeck, Robby Caspeele, Lincy Pyl
This study evaluates a methodology to estimate the reliability of a tensioned cable-net structure and accordingly the same method is applied for a membrane structure. The cable-net is designed according to the partial factor method described in the Eurocodes. The membrane structure is designed according to the method described in the Prospect for European Guidance for the Structural Design of Tensile Membrane Structures. Both structures are dimensioned according to two partial factor values for pretension 1 and 1.35. In general, the increase of partial factor for pretension results in an increase of the reliability index. The hanging direction under snow load, for case 1 and 2, is decisive for the final reliability index of the structure (the direction and load case for which the lowest reliability index is obtained).