Professional Documents
Culture Documents
including SAP2000
Prof. Wolfgang Schueller
Introduction
Most tensile structures are very flexible in comparison to conventional
structures. This is particularly true for the current, fashionable, minimal
structures, where all the members want to be under axial forces. Here,
repetitive members with pinned joints are tied together and stabilized by
cables or rods. Not only the low stiffness of cables, but also the nature of
hinged frame construction, make them vulnerable to lateral and vertical
movements. To acquire the necessary stiffness, special construction
techniques have been developed, such as spatial networks, as well as the
prestressing of tension members so that they remain in tension under any
loading conditions.
Because of the lightweight and flexible nature of cable-stayed roof structures
they may be especially vulnerable with respect to vertical stiffness, wind
uplift, lateral stability, and dynamic effects; redundancy must also be
considered in case of tie failure. Temperature effects are critical when the
structure is exposed to environmental changes. The movement of the
exposed structure must be compatible with the enclosure. In the partially
exposed structure, differential movement within the structure must be
considered; slotted connections may be used to relieve thermal
movement.
CABLES in STRUCTURES
Lateral bracing
Suspended highrise structures (tensile columns)
Single-layer, simply suspended cable roofs
Single-curvature and dish-shaped (synclastic) hanging roofs
Cable-supported structures
cable-supported beams and arched beams
cable-stayed bridges
cable-stayed roof structures
Tensegrity structures
Planar open and closed tensegrity systems: cable beams, cable trusses, cable frames
Spatial open tensegrity systems: cable domes
Spatial closed tensegrity systems: polyhedral twist units
Hybrid structures
Combination of the above systems
STRAND
An assembly of wires
Around a central core
Z-lock CABLE
WIRE ROPE
Assembly of strands
different cables
for different
load cases
Shabolovka tower,
Moscow, 1922,
Vladimir Shukhov
Stansted Airport, London, 1991, Norman Foster Arch, Ove Arup Struct. Eng.
German Museum of
Technology Berlin,
2001, Helge Pitz and
Ulrich Wolff Architects
TU Munich
German Museum of Technology, Berlin, 2001, Helge Pitz and Ulrich Wolff Architects
Funicular cables
Cable action under transverse loads
Parabolic cable
Cubic parabolic cable
Cable action under radial loads
Prestretched cable
The deformation of a cable under its loads takes the shape of a funicular
curve that is produced by only axial forces since a cable has negligible
bending strength: polygonal and curved shapes (e.g. catenary shapes,
parabolic shapes, circular shapes)
The simple, flexible, suspended cable takes different shapes under different loading
conditions; in other words, the cable shape and length are a function of loading and
state of stress:
Polygonal shape (kinked shape) is a function of concentrated loads.
Curved shape is a function of uniform loads, a situation that is most typical in suspended
roof structures.
Second degree parabolic shape is a function of constant uniform load, w, on the
horizontal projection of the roof. This situation applies for live loads on shallow suspended
roof structures (where the cables are arranged in a parallel fashion), in accordance with code
requirements, and occurs in suspension bridges where the suspended cables carry the
roadway.
Catenary shape or hyperbolic cosine (cosh) curve is a function of uniform load along the
cable length (e.g., self weight). For small sag-to-span ratios of n 1:10, the geometry of a
catenary and a parabola are practically the same so that the simpler parabola can be used.
Cubic parabolic shape is a function of uniformly distributed, tapered, transverse loads
along the cable's horizontal base, such as a triangular, or trapezoidal-shaped load. These
situations usually occur where cables are arranged in a radial fashion, such as in a typical
circular suspension roof.
Circular shape is a function of constant uniform radial pressure, p. The radial forces cause
cable forces of constant magnitude that are proportional to the radius of curvature. When
these radial forces, however, are not constant and increase uniformly from a minimum at the
center to a maximum at the edge, the cable takes an elliptical shape.
Polygonal cable
Prestretching cable
Cable vibration
WHY IS IT NONLINEAR?
Linear Elastic Theory approximates the length change of a bar by the dot product of the
direction vector and the displacement. But in this situation, you can see from the figure
above, that they are perpendicular to each other therefore dot product = 0. This would
mean that the bar did not change length, which from observation is untrue. It is therefore
necessary to use nonlinear analysis.
Modeling of Cables
Cable structures are flexible structures where the effect of large deflections
on the magnitude of the member forces must be considered. Cable
elements are tension-only members, where the axial forces are applied to
the deflected shape. You can not just apply, for instance transverse loads,
to a suspended cable with small moments of inertia using a linear analysis,
all you get is a large deflection with no increase in axial forces because the
change in geometry occurs after all the loads have been applied.
To take the effect of large deflections into account, a P-Delta analysis that is
a non-linear analysis has to be performed. Here the geometry change due to
the deflections, , and the effect of the applied loads, P, along the deformed
geometry is called the P- effect. The P-Delta effect only affects transverse
stiffness, not axial stiffness. Therefore, frame elements representing a cable
can carry compression as well as tension; this type of behavior is generally
unrealistic. You should review the analysis results to make sure that this
does not occur.
In SAP use cable elements for modeling. First define the material
properties then model cable behavior by providing for each frame
element section properties with small but realistic bending and
torsional stiffness (e.g. use 1-in. dia. steel rods or a small value such
as 1.0, for the moment of inertia). Do not use moment end-releases
because otherwise the structure may be unstable; disregard
moments and shear. Apply concentrated loads only at the end nodes
of the elements, where the cable kinks occur. For uniform loads
sufficient frame elements are needed to form a polygon composed of
frame elements. SAP provides for the modeling of curved cables,
Keep as Single Object or Break in Multiple Equal Length Objects.
Single-layer, cable-suspended
structures:
single-curvature and dish-shaped
(synclastic) hanging roofs
Portuguese Pavilion,
Expo 98, Lisbon, Alvaro
Siza Arch, Cecil
Balmond (Arup) Struct.
Eng.
Lufthansa-maintanance
hangar V, Frankfurt,
Germany, 1972, ABB
Architects, Dyckerhoff
and Widmann
Essingen stressed-ribbon
footbridge over Main-Danube
Canal, 1986, Richard Johann
Dietrich Arch, Heinz
Brninghoff Struct. Eng
In the typical suspended roof the cables (or other member types such as
W-sections, metal sheets, prestressed concrete strips) are integrated with
the roof structure. Here, one distinguishes whether single- or double-layer
cable systems are used. Simple, single-layer, suspended cable roofs must
be stabilized by heavyweight or rigid members. Sometimes, prestressed
suspended concrete shells are used where during erection they act as
simple suspended cable systems, while in the final state they behave like
inverted prestressed concrete shells. In simple, double-layer cable
structures, such as the typical bicycle wheel roof, stability is achieved by
secondary cables prestressing the main suspended cables.
The suspended cable adjusts its shape under load action so it can respond
in tension. It is helpful to visualize the deflected shape of the cable (i.e.
cable profile) as the shape of the moment diagram of an equivalent, simply
supported beam carrying the same loads as the cable. The moment
analogy method is useful since the magnitude of the moment, Mmax, can be
readily obtained from handbooks. Hence, the horizontal thrust force, H, at
the reaction for a simple suspended cable with supports at the same level
and cable sag, f, is
H = Mmax /f
Parabolic cable
Tmax
V
f = 9.33'
H
30'
14'
L = 140
14'
o = 15.180
The uniform load is assumed on the horizontal projection of the roof for this
preliminary manual check of the SAP results. Hence, a typical interior cable
must support
w = wD + wL = 6(0.020 + 0.030) = 0.12 + 0.18 = 0.3 k/ft
The vertical reactions are equal to each other because of symmetry and are
equal to
V = wL/2 = 0.3(140)/2 = 21 k
The minimum horizontal cable force at mid-span or the thrust force, H, at the
reaction is
H = Mmax /f = wL2 /8f = 0.3(140)2/8(9.33) = 78.78 k
The lateral thrust force according to SAP is 79.17 k as based on linear analysis
and 73.47 k as based on P-Delta analysis. The maximum cable force, Tmax, can
be determined according to Pythagoras' theorem at the critical reaction as
Tmax = 81.53 k
Or, treating the shallow cable as a circular arc, yields the following approximate
cable force of
T pR = 0.3 (267.26) = 80.18 k
Notice that there is only about 3.5% difference between the largest (Tmax) and
smallest (H) tensile force; the difference decreases as the cable profile becomes
flatter.
The SAP result of the linear analysis is 81.93 k but when performing the
nonlinear analysis that is P-Delta analysis, the maximum cable force is 76.39 k
reflecting the decrease of cable force with increase of cable sag due to large
cable displacement.
or
(4.8)
d 2.20 in
R = 207 ft
40
53'
45'
15'
30'
213'
198'
30'
53.35'
150'
45'
63'
15'
30'
208.70'
193.70'
30'
Maison de la
Culture, Firminy,
1965, Le Corbusier
Dulles Airport,
Washington,
1962, Eero
Saarinen/ Fred
Severud, 161-ft
(49 m)
suspended
tensile vault
Suspended roof,
Hohenems, Vorarlberg,
Austria, Reinhard Drexel
Arch, Merz Kaufmann
Struct. Eng
Kagawa
Prefectural
Gymnasium,
Kagawa, Japan,
1964, Kenzo
Tange Arch
Cable-supported structures
cable-supported beams and arches
suspended cable-supported roof structures
cable-stayed bridges
cable-stayed roof structures
The conventional king-post and queen- post trusses, which represent single-strut
and double-strut cable-supported beams, are familiar. These systems form
composite truss-like structures with steel or wood compression members as
top chords, steel tension rods as bottom chords, and compression struts as
web members.
Single-strut, cable-supported beams can also be overlapped in plane or spatially .
Cable-supported
structures
Integrated urban
buildings, Linkstr.
Potsdamer Platz,Berlin,
1998, Richard Rogers
Wilkhahn
Factory, Bad
Muender,
Germany,
Herzog Arch.,
1992
Auditorium
Paganini,
Parma, Italy,
2001,
Renzo
Piano Arch
Landeshauptstadt Mnchen,
Baureferat, Georg-BrauchleRing, Munich, Germany,
Christoph Ackerman
Bus shelter,
Schweinfurt, Germany
Surrey Central City, Atrium Roof, Surrey BC, Canada, 2002, Bing Thom
Architects, StructureCraft
Cable-Supported Beams
Lehrter Bahnhof,
Berlin, 2006, von
Gerkan, Marg and
Partners
Cable-Supported Arches
When arches are braced or prestressed by tensile elements, they are
stabilized against buckling, and deformations due to various loading
conditions and the corresponding moments are minimized, which in
turn results in reduction of the arch cross-section. The stabilization of
the arch through bracing can be done in various ways.
Hall 4, Hannover,
Germany, 1996, von
Gerkan Marg Arch,
Schlaich Bergermann
Struct. Eng
Ingolstadt Freight
Center, Hall Q,
Ingolstadt,
Germany
4'
4'
4'
4'
4'
4'
c
40'
Berlin Central Station, Berlin, 2006, von Gerkan, Marg Arch, Schlaich
Bergerman Structural Engineers
Plan view
Asymmetrical arch
10
.10
Mmax
Mmin
7.70 k
5.86'
4.29'
10'
27.32'
EXAMPLE: 9.2:
Asymmetrical
composite arches
Waterloo Terminal,
London, 1993, Nicholas
Grimshaw Arch, Anthony
Hunt Struct. Eng
2.68'
C.
10'
30 deg
17.32'
60 deg
Bh
Bv
10'
30 deg
a.
Ah
20'
Av
17.32'
2.68'
7.32'
5.86'
17.32'
4.29'
b.
10'
27.32'
BRACED ARCHES
When arches are braced or prestressed by tensile elements, they are
stabilized against buckling, and deformations due to various loading
conditions and the corresponding moments are minimized, which in turn
results in reduction of the arch cross-section. The stabilization of the arch
through bracing can be done in various ways as suggested in Fig. 9.12 and
9.14.
Several typical examples of braced arches with non-prestressed web
members are shown in Fig. 9.12. The most basic braced arch is the tied
arch (b). Arches may be supported by a single or multiple compression struts
or flying columns (c, d)). Slender arches may also be braced against buckling
with radial ties at center span (e) as known from the principle of the bicycle
wheel, where the thin wire spokes of the bicycle wheel are prestressed with
sufficient force so that they do not carry compression and buckle due to
external loads; the uniform radial tension produces compression in the outer
circular rim (ring) of the wheel and tension in the inner ring. However, in the
given case, the diagonal members are not prestressed. Here, the three
members at center-span are struts.
The design of the unbraced arched portal frame in (a), is controlled by full
uniform gravity loading; here the lateral thrust at the frame knees is resisted
completely in bending. However, when the relatively shallow portion of the arch
is braced by a horizontal tie rod (b), the lateral displacement under full uniform
gravity loading is very much reduced, that is bending decreases substantially
although axial forces will increase. For the tied arch cases without or with flying
column supports for cases (b, c, d)), the design of the critical arch members is
controlled by gravity loading or the combination of half gravity loading together
with wind whereas the design of the web members is controlled by gravity
loading. It is apparent, as the layout of the arch webbing gets denser the arch
moments will decrease further as the structure approaches an axial system. If a
vertical load large enough is applied to the intersection of web members in case
(e) to prestress the radial rod web members, then the entire web members form
a radial tensile network. For further discussion refer to Problem 9.1.
10'
d
6'
12'
e
c
10'
L = 40'
10'
d
6'
12'
e
c
10'
L = 40'
To perform the thermal analysis in SAP, select the frame element, then click
Assign, then Frame/Cable Loads, and then Temperature; in the Frame
Temperature Loading dialog box select first Load Case, then Type (i.e.
temperature for uniform constant temperature difference).
Braced arches
D
20'
10'
500
0
50
50
50 0
50
50 0
Introducing to the semicircular arch a horizontal tie rod (Problem 9.3) at midheight, reduces lateral displacement of the arches due to uniform gravity
action substantially, so that the combination of gravity load and wind load
controls now the design rather than primarily uniform gravity loading for an
arch without a tie. Also the moments due to the gravity and wind load
combination are reduced since the tie remains in tension as it transfers part of
the wind load in compression to the other side of the arch. In contrast, when
the arch is braced with a trussed network , then the arch is stiffened laterally
very much, so that the uniform gravity loading case controls the design with
the corresponding smaller moments.
Similar behavior occurs for the arch placed on the diagonal (Fig. 9.14d, e). As
a pure arch its design is controlled by bending with very small axial forces as
based on gravity loading, in other words it behaves as a flexural system.
However, when prestressed tensile webbing is introduced the moments in the
arch are substantially reduced and the axial forces increased, now the arch
approaches more the behavior of an axial-flexural structure system
requiring much smaller member sizes; also here the controlling load case is
gravity plus prestressing although the design of some members is based on
dead load and prestressing. For further discussion refer to Problem
DZ Bank including auditorium, Berlin, Germany ,2001, Frank Gehry Arch, Schlaich Bergemann Struct. Eng
Akashi-Kaikyo-Bridge,
Japan, 1998, 1990 m span
Dachtragwerk
Eissporthalle,
Memmingen, 1988,
Brner Pasmann Arch,
Schlaich Bergemann
Struct. Eng
Jumbo Maintenance Hangar, Deutsche Lufthansa, Hamburg Airport , van Gerkan Marg Arch,
Cable-stayed bridges
consist of the towers, cable stays, and deck structure. The stays can
give support to the deck structure only at a few points, using one,
two, three, or four cables, or the stays can be closely spaced thereby
reducing the beam moments and allowing much larger spans.
Typical multiple stays can be arranged in a fan-type fashion by
letting them start all together at the top of the tower and then spread
out. They can be arranged in a harp-type manner, where they are
arranged parallel across the height of the tower. The stay
configuration may also fall between the fan-harp types. Furthermore,
the stay configurations are not always symmetrical as indicated. In
the transverse direction, the stays may be arranged in one vertical
plane at the center or off center, in two vertical planes along the edge
of the roadway, in diagonal planes descending from a common point
to the edge deck girders, or the stays may be arranged in some other
spatial manner. In bridge design generally cables are used because
of the low live-to-dead load ratio.
Ganter Bridge,
Brig, Switzerland,
1980, Christian
Menn designer
Willemsbridge, Rotterdam,
1981, is a double suspension
bridge, C.Veeling designer
Alamillo Bridge,
Sevilla, Spain,1992,
Santiago Calatrava
Cable-Stayed Bridges
Cable-supported structures
Frankenstadion
(Grundig),
Nrnberg,
Germany, 2005,
Hentrich,
Petschnigg Arch,
K+S Struct Eng
Renault Distribution
Center, Swindon,
England, 1982, Norman
Foster Arch, Ove Arup
Struct. Eng
Temporary American
Center, Paris, 1991,
Nasrin Seraji Arch
Bangkok
Saibu Gas Museum for natural Phenomenart, Fukuoka, 1989, Shoei Yoh + Architects
RheinEnergie Football
Stadium, Koeln, 2003,
Van Gerkan-Marg Arch,
Schlaich-Bergemann
Struct Eng
W14 x 26
P5
P8
20'
W14 x 43
20'
P5
P8
b
20'
20'
20'
80'
W14 x 30
P6
P8
20'
5'
30'
10'
5'
10'
20'
W14 x 22
d
P10
50'
80'
50'
Classification of tensile
membranes
Pneumatic Structures
Pneumatic structures may be organized as follows:
Air-supported structures
high-profile, ground-mounted air structures, and
berm- or wall-mounted, low-profile roof membranes
Air-inflated structures (i.e., air members)
Tubular systems (line elements)
Dual-wall systems or airmats (surface elements)
Hybrid air structures
Pneumatic structures
Soap bubbles
Traveling exhibition
Air-inflated
members and
Example 9.14
T = pR
T = pR
Lense-shaped
pneumatic bubble
structure
Roman Arena Inflated Roof, Nimes, France, 1988, Architect Finn Geipel, Nicolas Michelin, Paris;
Schlaich Bergermann und Partne; internal pressure 0.40.55 kN/m2
US Pavilion, EXPO
70, Osaka, DavisBrody
Pontiac Metropolitan
Stadium , Detroit, 1975,
O'Dell/Hewlett &
Luckenbach Arch, Geiger
Berger Struct. Eng.
Tension foundations
Tent architecture
Point-supported tents
Arched, prestress
membrane force
wp
f
T1
T1
w
T2
Suspended, load-carrying
membrane force
T2
Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany, 1972, Gnther Behnisch architect + Frei Otto,
Leonhardt-Andrae Struct. Eng.
Saga Headquarters
Amenity Building,
Folkston, UK,
1999, Michael
Hopkins Arch, Ove
Arup Struct. Eng
Haj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1982, SOM/ Horst Berger Arch, Fazlur Khan/SOM Struct. Eng
Rosa Parks Transit Center, Detroit, 2009, Parson Brinkerhoff + FTL Design and
Engineering Studio
Sony Center, Potzdamer Platz, Berlin, 2000, Helmut Jahn Arch., Ove Arup Struct. Eng
TENSEGRITY STRUCTURES
Buckminster Fuller described tensegrity as, small islands of compression in a sea
of tension. Ideal tensegrity structures are self-stressed systems, where few nontouching straight compression struts are suspended in a continuous cable network of
tension members.
Tensegrity structures may be organized as
TENSEGRITY TRIPOD
David Geiger invented a new generation of low-profile domes after his air
domes, which he called cable domes. He derived the concept from
Buckminster Fullers aspension (ascending suspension) tensegrity domes,
which are triangle based and consist of discontinuous radial trusses tied
together by ascending concentric tension rings; but the roof was not
conceived as made of fabric.
Geigers prestressed domes, in contrast, appear in plan like simple, radial
Schwedler domes with concentric tension hoops. His domes consist of
radioconcentric spatial cable network and vertical compression struts. In other
words, radial cable trusses interact with concentric floating tension rings
(attached to the bottom of the posts) that step upward toward the crown in
accordance with Fullers aspension effect. The trusses get progressively
thinner toward the center, similar to a pair of cantilever trusses not touching
each other; the heaviest member occur at the perimeter of the span. In section,
the radial trusses appear as planar and the missing bottom chords give the
feeling of instability, which however, is not the case since they are replaced by
the hoop cables that the the cables together.
The cable dome concept can also be perceived as ridge cables radiating from
the central tension ring to the perimeter compression ring. They are held up
by the short compression struts, which in turn, are supported by the
concentric hoop (or ring) cables and are braced by the intermediate tension
diagonals, as well as by the radial cables. A typical diagonal cable is attached
to the top of a post and to the bottom of the next post.
The pie-shaped fabric panels span from ridge cable to ridge cable and then
are tensioned by the valley cables, thus being shaped into anticlastic
surfaces; they contribute to the overall stiffness of the dome. The maximum
radial cable spacing is limited by the strength of the fabric and detail
considerations. The number of tension hoop is a function of the dome span.
The sequence of erection of the roof network, which is done without
scaffolding, is critical, that is, the stressing sequence of the posttensioned
roof cables to pull the dome up into place.
The first tensegrity domes built were the gymnastics and fencing stadiums
for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The 393-ft span dome
for the gymnastics stadium required three tension hoops and has a
structural weight of merely 2 psf.
The 688-ft span Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg (1989) is one of the
largest cable domes in the world. The dome is a four-hoop structure with 24
cable trusses and has a structural weight of only 5 psf. The dome weight is 8
psf, which includes the steel cables, posts, center tension ring, the catwalks
supported by the hoop cables, lighting, and fabric panels.
The translucent fabric consists of the outer Teflon-coated fiberglass
membrane, the inner vinyl-coated polyester fabric, and an 8-in. thick layer of
fiberglass insulation sandwiched between them. The dome has a 6o tilt and
rests on all-precast, prestressed concrete stadium structure,
Olympic Fencing and Gymnastics Stadiums, Seoul, 1989, David Geiger Struct. Eng
The worlds largest cable dome is currently Atlantas Georgia Dome (1992),
designed by engineer Mattys Levy of Weidlinger Associates. Levy developed
for this enormous 770- x 610-ft oval roof the hypar tensegrity dome, which
required three concentric tension hoops. He used the name because the
triangular-shaped roof panels form diamonds that are saddle shaped.
In contrast to Geigers radial configuration primarily for round cable domes,
Levy used triangular geometry, which works well for noncircular structures
and offers more redundancy, but also results in a more complex design and
erection process. An elliptical roof differs from a circular one in that the
tension along the hoops is not constant under uniform gravity load action.
Furthermore, while in radial cable domes, the unbalanced loads are resisted
first by the radial trusses and then distributed through deflection of the
network, in triangulated tensegrity domes, loads are distributed more evenly.
The oval plan configuration of the roof consists of two radial circular
segments at the ends, with a planar, 184-ft long tension cable truss at the long
axis that pulls the roofs two foci together. The reinforced-concrete
compression ring beam is a hollow box girder 26 ft wide and 5 ft deep that
rests on Teflon bearing pads on top of the concrete columns to accommodate
movements.
The Teflon-coated fiberglass membrane, consisting of the fused diamondshaped fabric panels approximately 1/16 in. thick, is supported by the cable
network but works independently of it (i.e. filler panels); it acts solely as a
roof membrane but does contribute to the dome stiffness. The total dead load
of the roof is 8 psf.
The roof erection, using simultaneous lift of the entire giant roof network from
the stadium floor to a height of 250 ft, was an impressive achievement of
Birdair, Inc.
Kurilpa Bridge (Tank Street Bridge), Brisbane, Australia, 2009, Ove Arup Struct. Eng
12'
4'
4'
a
4' 4'
12'
-in. rod
c
8'
40'
8'
P3
P2
P2
P1.5
12'
Cable Beams
Cable frames
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Cologne/Bonn Airport,
Germany, 2000, Helmut
Jahn Arch., Ove Arup USA
Struct. Eng.
The dead loads are usually transferred from the glass panels to vertical
tension rods, or each panel is hung directly from the next panel above; in
other words, the upper panels carry the deadweight of the lower panels in
tension.
The structural and thermal movements in the glass wall are taken up by the
resiliency of the glass-to-glass silicone joints and, for example, by balljointed metal links at the glass-to-truss connections, thereby preventing
stress concentrations and bending of the glass at the corners.
World Trade Center, Amsterdam, 2003 (?), Kohn, Pedersen & Fox
Cable beams
Cable Beams
Commonwealth Edison
Transmission/Distribution Center, Chicago, IL,
SOM Arch Hal Iyengar Struct. Eng
Standard Hall,
Stuttgart Trade Fair
Center, Stuttgart,
Germany, 2007, Wulf
Arch, Mayr Ludescher
Struct. Eng
b.
c.
-in. rod
P3
P2
P2
P1.5
a.
d.
Cable-Supported Columns
e.
OZ Building,
Tel Aviv,
Israel, 1995,
Avram Yaski
Arch,
Octatube
Cable beams
Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York, 1960, Gehron & Seltzer and Frank
Delle Cese Arch, Lev Zetlin Struct. Eng
Waldstadion, Frankfurt,
Germany, 2005, von
Gerkan, Marg Arch,
Schlaich Bergermann
Struct Eng
Tensegrity Frames
Typical planar tensegrity frames are shown in Fig. 11.21, where suspended
cables are connected to a second set of cables of reverse curvature to form
pretensioned cable trusses, which remain in tension under any loading
condition. In other words, visualize a single suspended (concave) cable, the
primary cable, to be stabilized by a secondary arched (convex) cable or
prestressing cable. This secondary cable can be placed on top of the
primary cable by employing compression struts, thus forming a lens-shaped
beam (Fig. 11.10a), or it can be located below the primary cable (either by
touching or being separated at center) by connecting the two cables with
tension ties or diagonals (c). A combination of the two cable configurations
yields a convex-concave cable beam (b).
The use of the dual-cable approach not only causes the single flexible cable to
be more stable with respect to fluttering, but also results in higher strength and
stiffness. The stiffness of the cable beam depends on the curvature of the
cables, cable size, level of pretension, and support conditions. The cable
beam is highly indeterminate from a force flow point of view; it cannot be
considered a rigid beam with a linear behavior in the elastic range. The
sharing of the loads between the cables, that is, finding the proportion of the
load carried by each cable, is an extremely difficult problem.
In the first loading stage, prestress forces are induced into the beam structure. The initial
tension (i.e. prestress force minus compression due to cable and spreader weight) in the
arched cable should always be larger than the compression forces that are induced by the
superimposed loads due to the roofing deck and live load; this is to prevent the convex cable
and web ties from becoming slack.
Let us assume that under full loading stage all the loads, w, are carried by the suspended
cables and that the forces in the arched cables are zero. Therefore, when the superimposed
loads are removed, equivalent minimum prestress loads of, w/2, are required to satisfy the
assumed condition, which in turn is based on equal cross-sectional areas of cables and equal
cable sags so that the suspended and arched cables carry the same loads.
Naturally, the equivalent prestress load cannot be zero under maximum loading conditions
since its magnitude is not just a function of strength as based on static loading and initial
cable geometry, but also of dynamic loading including damping (i.e. natural period), stiffness,
and considerations of the erection process. The determination of prestress forces requires a
complex process of analysis, which is beyond the scope of this introductory discussion. It is
assumed for rough preliminary approximation purposes that the final equivalent prestress
loads are equal to, w/2 (often designers us final prestress loads at lest equal to live loads,
wL).
It is surely overly conservative to assume all the loads to be supported by the
suspended cable, while the secondary cables only function is to damp the vibration of
the primary cable. Because of the small sag-to-span ratio of cable beams, it is reasonable to
treat the maximum cable force, T, as equal to the horizontal thrust force, H, for preliminary
design purposes.
4'
4'
12'
12'
4' 4'
12'
c
8'
40'
8'