Membrane structures are spatial structures made out of tensioned membranes. The structural use of membranes can be divided into
pneumatic structures,
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
The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary ...
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
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, is the
Beijing National Aquatics Center
The Water Cube (水立方), fully a.k.a. the National Aquatics Centre (), is a swimming center at the Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China.
The Water Cube was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at ...
, 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
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
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 bott ...
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
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...
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 i ...
foil
* PVC foil.
Gallery
File:Beijing National Aquatics Centre 1.jpg, Beijing National Aquatics Center
The Water Cube (水立方), fully a.k.a. the National Aquatics Centre (), is a swimming center at the Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China.
The Water Cube was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at ...
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 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League's (NFL) ...
, Minnesota
File:Millennium Dome 1.jpg, Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millen ...
, London
File:Hajj Terminal 01 Jeddah.jpg, King Abdulaziz International Airport
King Abdulaziz International Airport (IATA airport code, IATA: JED, ICAO airport code, ICAO: OEJN, colloquially referred to as Jeddah Airport, Jeddah International Airport, or KAIA), is a major international airport serving the cities of Jedda ...
, 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
* Tension fabric building
* Fabric structure
* Air-supported structure
References
Architecture
Roofs
{{Architecture-stub