Tension fabric buildings or tension fabric structures are constructed using a rigid frame—which can consist of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, rigid plastic, or

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

—and a sturdy

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

outer

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...

. Once the frame is erected, the fabric cover is stretched over the frame. The fabric cover is tensioned to provide the stable structural support of the

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

. The fabric is tensioned using multiple methods, varying by manufacturer, to create a tight fitting cover membrane. Compared to traditional or conventional buildings, tension fabric buildings may have lower operational costs due to the daylight that comes through the fabric roof when light-coloured fabrics are used. This natural lighting process is known as daylighting and can improve both energy use and life-cycle costs, as well as occupant health. Tension fabric structures may be more quickly installed than traditional structures as they use fewer materials and therefore usually require less ground works to install. Some tension fabric structures, particularly those with aluminium frames, may be easily relocated.

Common applications

Tension fabric buildings have gained popularity over the last few decades in industries using: indoor practice facilities,

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

structures, industrial buildings, manufacturing,

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

storage for road maintenance departments,

environmental management Environmental resource management or environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environment ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, airplane

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s, marine,

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, remediation and emergency shelters,

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

and feed storage, and

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

arenas. These structures are suitable for quickly expanding existing facilities, by attaching the fabric structures to extend warehouses or workspaces. They can also be used as covered loading/unloading areas. Tension fabric buildings are often used for sports due to the natural light that permeates light-coloured fabrics. These buildings provide covered indoor spaces that allow teams to train under natural daylight when weather is inclement, combating a common problem in sports known as rainout. The light weight of the fabric roofs enables the construction of tension fabric structures up to clear span without supporting pillars or

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s, contributing to the use of these buildings for applications that require large open spaces. One example is Phase 2 of the

Sport Ireland Sport Ireland (), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill ...

National Indoor Arena project which includes a tension fabric building that will be in size, to be used for

gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

, rugby and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. These buildings may also be used for holding livestock or as indoor riding arenas, due to the controlled interior climate and the existence of tension structures that run over long.

Construction

Building sizes are usually standardized by the nature of being a

pre-engineered building A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. Vario ...

. Some manufacturers produce tension fabric buildings spanning up to 300 feet wide and to almost any length. Buildings can be designed to be portable, mounted on wheels or other rolling crane-type designs fitted to the base-plates, or lifting in modules by

overhead crane An overhead crane, commonly called a bridge crane, is a type of crane found in industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of two parallel rails seated on longitudinal I-beams attached to opposite steel columns by means of brackets. ...

s. Industrial strength fabric, which can have life expectancies of 20–30 years, have been used for many applications. Fabric life expectancy is affected by local environmental factors (e.g. sunlight, temperature, wind, air quality) and occupancy conditions (e.g. humidity, chemical vapours). The structural membranes available are made of

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

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 ...

. Some fabrics are sufficiently translucent to allow sunlight to pass through, creating a naturally lit environment inside the building. Fabric selection influences project capital cost and maintenance.

Building regulation

In some jurisdictions tension fabric buildings may qualify as temporary structures which benefit from a shorter capital depreciation period, relative to a permanent structure, for tax purposes. Buildings classified as temporary structures may have significant limitations on occupancy, applied load and fire safety considerations and period of installation. Whilst a common application of tension fabric buildings is temporary use, it is not exempt from regulatory requirements including compliance with building codes, occupancy classifications, aesthetics and building permits. Fabric tension buildings are required to meet the same

building code A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for construction objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permis ...

safety requirements and applicable design standards as any other structure. Tension fabric buildings may also be permanent structures with structural longevity varying according to manufacturer.

References

External links

The History of Tension Fabric StructuresFabric Buildings for Oil & Gas Exploration
*
Fabric Structures Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tension Fabric Building Structural system Tensile membrane structures Tensile architecture

Common applications

Construction

Building regulation

See also

References

External links