Overview of textile tensile surface structures with the largest uniform area

Abstract

The innovative design of tensile surface structures is often a distinguishing feature of the entire construction project. The use of membranes gives buildings a sense of lightness and often a futuristic look. The construction materials used in the design of membrane roofing are, in addition to the steel cables tensioning and supporting the roof membrane, technical fabrics. This article focuses on describing structures made of continuous tensioned membranes spanning a rope or bar network with a total uniform area of more than 20,000 m2. Five structures with the largest uniform load-bearing area are described. The most commonly used yarn materials and coatings are described. The basic strength parameters of the most commonly used fabrics are summarized. The principles of shaping membrane surfaces were described. Attention was drawn to the difficulty of transferring laboratory test results to real objects. It is very likely that, for reasons of usability and manufacturing technology, continuous membrane surfaces with larger areas than described will no longer be designed.