Membrane structures are spatial structures made out of tensioned membranes. The structural use of membranes can be divided into
pneumatic structure
An air-supported (or air-inflated) structure is any building that derives its structural integrity from the use of internal pressurized air to inflate a pliable material (i.e. structural fabric) envelope, so that air is the main support of the str ...
s,
tensile membrane structures, and cable domes. In these three kinds of structure, membranes work together with cables, columns and other construction members to find a form.
Membranes are also used as non-structural cladding, as at the
Beijing National Stadium where the spaces between the massive steel structural members are infilled with PTFE coated glass fiber fabric and ETFE foil. The other major building on the site, built for the
2008 Summer Olympics, is the
Beijing National Aquatics Center
The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China.
The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2 ...
, also known as the Water Cube. It is entirely clad in 100,000 square metres of inflated ETFE foil cushions arranged as an apparently random cellular structure.
Materials
The common membranes used in membrane structures include:
*
PVC coated
polyester fabric
* Translucent
Polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...
fabric
* PVC coated
glass fiber
Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.
Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...
fabric
*
PTFE coated glass fiber fabric; foils like
*
ETFE
Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly(ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It is ...
foil
* PVC foil.
Gallery
File:Beijing National Aquatics Centre 1.jpg, Beijing National Aquatics Center
The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China.
The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2 ...
File:Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand.jpg, Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand
File:Metrodome roof.JPG, Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...
, Minnesota
File:Millennium Dome 1.jpg, Millennium Dome, London
File:Hajj Terminal 01 Jeddah.jpg, King Abdulaziz International Airport
King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) ( ar, مطار الملك عبدالعزيز الدولي) is an international airport serving Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also known as "Jeddah International Airport"( ar, مطار جدة الدولي).
T ...
, Khan Shatyr, Kazakhstan
File:(86-113-2)BAZAR GOL (3).jpg, Ab-o-Atash Park in Tehran
File:Munich subway FT 2.jpg, Subway station Fröttmaning, Munich, Germany
Conference
The ''International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering'' (CIMNE) in Barcelona biannually holds the international conference ''Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures (Structural Membranes)''.
The conference has been taking place in Barcelona, Stuttgart and Munich. The tenth edition of the conference will be organized in 2021 in Munich.
Structural Membranes 2021
In: Congress.Cimne.com
Literature
*ETFE, Technology and Design, Annette LeCuyer, Verlag Birkhäuser,
*Membrane Structures, Hrsg. Klaus-Michael Koch, Verlag Prestel,
See also
* Tensile structure
A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying 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 ...
* Tension fabric building
* Fabric structure
* Air-supported structure
An air-supported (or air-inflated) structure is any building that derives its structural integrity from the use of internal pressurized air to inflate a pliable material (i.e. structural fabric) envelope, so that air is the main support of the st ...
References
Architecture
Roofs
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