Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures (Computational Methods in Applied Sciences Book 3)

This book collects state-of-the-art research and technology for design, analysis, construction and maintenance of textile and inflatable structures. Textile composites and inflatable structures have become increasingly popular for a variety of applications in – among many other fields – civil engineering, architecture and aerospace engineering. Typical examples include membrane roofs and covers, sails, inflatable buildings and pavilions, airships, inflatable furniture, airspace structures etc. The book contains 18 invited contributions written by distinguished authors who participated in the International Conference on Textile Composites and Inflated Structures held in Barcelona from June 30th to July 2nd, 2003. The meeting was one of the Thematic Conferences of the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS). The different chapters discuss recent progress and future research directions in membrane and inflatable structures built with new textile composite materials. Approximately half of the book focuses on describing innovative numerical methods for structural analysis of such structures, such as new nonlinear membrane and shell finite elements. The rest of the chapters present advances in design, construction and maintenance procedures. The objective of this book is to collect state-of-the-art research and te- nology for design, analysis, construction and maintenance of textile and in?atable structures. Textile composites and in?atable structures have become increasingly popular for a variety of applications in - among many other?elds - civil engineering, architecture and aerospace engineering. Typical examples - clude membrane roofs and covers, sails, in?atable buildings and pavilions, airships, in?atable furniture, airspace structures etc. The ability to provide numerical simulations for increasingly complex membrane and in?atable structures is advancing rapidly due to both - markablestrides in computer hardware development and theimproved maturity of computational procedures for nonlinear structural systems. Signi?cant progress has been made in the formulation of?nite elements methods for static and dynamic problems, complex constitutive material behaviour, coupled aero-elastic analysis etc. The book contains 18 invited contributions written by distinguished authors who participated in the International Conference on Textile C- puterandIn?atedStructuresheldinBarcelonafromJune30thtoJuly2nd 2003. The meeting was one of the Thematic Conferences of the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS, www.eccomas.org). The di?erent chapters discuss recent progress and future research dir- tions in new textile composites for applications in membrane and in?atable structures. Approximately half of thebook focusesin describing innovative numerical methods for structural analysis, such as new non linear m- brane and shell?nite elements. The rest of the chapters present advances in design, construction and maintenance procedures. The content of the di?erent chapters was sent directly by the authors andtheeditorscannotacceptresponsibilityforanyinaccuracies, comments and opinions contained in thetext Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 On the Design Process of Tensile Structures......Page 9 Systems for Lightweight Structure Design: the State-of-the-Art and Current Developments......Page 25 Recent Developments in the Analytical Design of Textile Membranes......Page 37 Finite Element Analysis of Membrane Structures......Page 54 Applications of a Rotation-Free Triangular Element for Finite Strain Analysis of Thin Shells and Membranes......Page 76 FE Analysis of Membrane Systems Including Wrinkling and Coupling......Page 96 Wrinkles in Square Membranes......Page 116 FEM for Prestressed Saint Venant-Kirchhoff Hyperelastic Membranes......Page 130 Equilibrium Consistent Anisotropic Stress Fields in Membrane Design......Page 150 Efficient Finite Element Modelling and Simulation of Gas and Fluid Supported Membrane and Shell Structures......Page 159 Widespan Membrane Roof Structures: Design Assisted by Experimental Analysis......Page 179 Fabric Membranes Cutting Pattern......Page 201 Inflated Membrane Structures on the Ground in the Air and in Space - A Classification......Page 219 Post-Tensioned Modular Inflated Structures......Page 227 Experiences in the Design Analysis and Construction of Low Pressure Inflatable Structures......Page 246 Recent Advances in the Rigidization of Gossamer Structures......Page 263 Form-Optimizing Processes in Biological Structures. Self-generating structures in nature based on pneumatics......Page 288 Making Blobs with a Textile Mould......Page 307

This book collects state-of-the-art research and technology for design, analysis, construction and maintenance of textile and inflatable structures.

Textile composites and inflatable structures have become increasingly popular for a variety of applications in – among many other fields – civil engineering, architecture and aerospace engineering. Typical examples include membrane roofs and covers, sails, inflatable buildings and pavilions, airships, inflatable furniture, airspace structures etc.

The book contains 18 invited contributions written by distinguished authors who participated in the International Conference on Textile Composites and Inflated Structures held in Barcelona from June 30th to July 2nd, 2003. The meeting was one of the Thematic Conferences of the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS).

The different chapters discuss recent progress and future research directions in membrane and inflatable structures built with new textile composite materials. Approximately half of the book focuses on describing innovative numerical methods for structural analysis of such structures, such as new nonlinear membrane and shell finite elements. The rest of the chapters present advances in design, construction and maintenance procedures.

The design process of pretensioned structures such as cable nets and membrane structures is influenced by the development of computational methods.