TENSIONED FABRIC SHAPE-FINDING

Tensioned glass fiber-reinforced fabric has been used in roofs and canopies for various permanent structures such as stadiums and airport terminals all around the world. At its final state of geometry, the fabric shall be all in tension in its natural stable shape. The natural shape of the fabric can be generated by refining a 2D computer model to determine the 3D state using a geometric nonlinear analysis program for the personal computer. This paper presents an actual design case using a general purpose structural analysis program to reduce the complexity involved in finding the true natural shape of the tensioned fabric roofs.