Form Active structure systems

STRUCTURES REPORT

DEEKSHA MALHOTRA

PRATYUSH GUPTA

SHUBHANGI PAHUJA

SWARNIM JAIN

Form active structures are those structures in which load is taken by the form
or the shape of the structure. They are non-rigid, flexible matter shaped in a
certain way and secured at the ends, can support itself and span space. Only
tensile and compressive stresses persists. These are mainly categorized into
4 types:-

# Cable Structure

# Arch Structure

# Tents Structures

# Pneumatic Structures

Cable structure, Form of long-span structure that is subject to

tension and uses suspension cables for support. Highly efficient, cable
structures include the suspension bridge, the cable-stayed roof, and the
bicycle-wheel roof.

A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and

no compression or bending. The term tensile should not be confused
with tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression
elements. Tensile structures are the most common type of thin-shell
structures.

Most tensile structures are supported by some form of compression or

bending elements, such as masts (as in The O2, formerly theMillennium
Dome), compression rings or beams.

Membrane materials[edit]

Common materials for doubly curved fabric structures are PTFE-

coated fiberglass and PVC-coated polyester. These are woven materials with
different strengths in different directions. The warp fibers (those fibers which
are originally straight—equivalent to the starting fibers on a loom) can carry
greater load than the weft or fill fibers, which are woven between the warp
fibers.

Other structures make use of ETFE film, either as single layer or in cushion
form (which can be inflated, to provide good insulation properties or for
aesthetic effect—as on the Allianz Arena in Munich). ETFE cushions can also
be etched with patterns in order to let different levels of light through when
inflated to different levels. They are most often supported by a structural
frame as they cannot derive their strength from double curvature.
Cables[edit]

Cables can be of mild steel, high strength steel (drawn carbon

steel), stainless steel, polyester or aramid fibres. Structural cables are made
of a series of small strands twisted or bound together to form a much larger
cable. Steel cables are either spiral strand, where circular rods are twisted
together and "glued" using a polymer, or locked coil strand, where individual
interlocking steel strands form the cable (often with a spiral strand core).
Spiral strand is slightly weaker than locked coil strand. Steel spiral strand
cables have a Young's modulus, E of 150±10 kN/mm² (or 150±10 GPa) and
come in sizes from 3 to 90 mm diameter.[citation needed] Spiral strand suffers from
construction stretch, where the strands compact when the cable is loaded.
This is normally removed by pre-stretching the cable and cycling the load up
and down to 45% of the ultimate tensile load.

Locked coil strand typically has a Young's Modulus of 160±10 kN/mm² and
comes in sizes from 20 mm to 160 mm diameter.

The properties of the individuals strands of different materials are shown in

the table below, where UTS is ultimate tensile strength, or the breaking load.

Arch structures
An arch is a curved structure that spans a space and may or may not support
weight above it.[1] Arch may be synonymous with vault, but a vault may be
distinguished as a continuous arch[2] forming a roof. Arches appeared as early
as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture,[3] and their
systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply
the technique to a wide range of structures.

The most common true arch configurations are the fixed arch, the two-
hinged arch, and the three-hinged arch.[8]

The fixed arch is most often used in reinforced concrete bridge and tunnel
construction, where the spans are short. Because it is subject to additional
internal stress caused by thermal expansion and contraction, this type of
arch is considered to be statically indeterminate.[7]

The two-hinged arch is most often used to bridge long spans.[7] This type of
arch has pinned connections at the base. Unlike the fixed arch, the pinned
base is able to rotate,[9] allowing the structure to move freely and
compensate for the thermal expansion and contraction caused by changes in
outdoor temperature. However, this can result in additional stresses, so the
two-hinged arch is also statically indeterminate, although not to the degree
of the fixed arch.[7]

The three-hinged arch is not only hinged at its base, like the two-hinged arch,
but at the mid-span as well. The additional connection at the mid-span allows
the three-hinged arch to move in two opposite directions and compensate for
any expansion and contraction. This type of arch is thus not subject to
additional stress caused by thermal change. The three-hinged arch is
therefore said to be statically determinate.[8] It is most often used for
medium-span structures, such as large building roofs.

Segmental arch

Round arch or Semi-circular arch

Segmental arch or arch that is less than a semicircle

Pneumatic structure, Membrane structure that is
stabilized by the pressure of compressed air. Air-supported structures are
supported by internal air pressure. A network of cables stiffens the fabric,
and the assembly is supported by a rigid ring at the edge. The air pressure
within this bubble is increased slightly above normal atmospheric
pressure and maintained by compressors or fans. Air locks are required at
entrances to prevent loss of internal air pressure. Air-supported membranes
were first devised by Walter Bird in the late 1940s and were soon put to use
as covers for swimming pools, temporary warehouses, and exhibition
buildings. Air-inflated structures are supported by pressurized air within
inflated building elements that are shaped to carry loads in a traditional
manner. Pneumatic structures are perhaps the most cost-effective type of
building for very long spans.

Case Studies
Airport Terminal Building, Dulles International Airport.

Architects :Eero Saarinen

Location: Chantilly, Virginia, United States

Architect: Eero Saarinen

References: Eero Saarinen, Antonio Roman

Project Year: 1962

Located 26 miles west of the central business district of Washington D.C. in

Chantilly, Virginia, the Washington Dulles International Airport is named after
John Foster Dulles, who was Secretary of State under President Eisenhower. It
occupies 11,830 acres of land right on the border of Fairfax County and
Loudoun County. Ranked the fifth largest hub for United Airlines, the Dulles
Airport is one of the nation's busiest airports as it handles over 23 million
passengers a day, flying to more than 125 destinations.

Structural and Architectural Aspects

The spacious terminal building of Washington DC's international airport is

structurally exciting both outside and in. A huge concrete sheet is slung
between two asymmetric rows of concrete hooks, creating an inviting and
dynamic curve as you approach. Invisibly within the concrete, it is steel
suspension-bridge cables between the hooks that support the weight of the
concrete roof, which Saarinen described as 'like a huge, continuous
hammock suspended between concrete trees.'

The simplicity of the design allowed for elegant expansion of the building in
the 1990s, by adding more concrete trees at each end of the row and
suspending further hammocks between them.
The outward slope of the concrete hooks counterbalances the tension in the
cables supporting the roof sheet; Saarinen, in his own words, 'exaggerated
and dramatized' the slope to create the building's 'dynamic and soaring

The design of the roof, with concrete panels supported by catenary cables,
stands out as an important technical feature of the building and allows for an
uninterrupted interior space to streamline the flow of passengers from the
unloading area up to the mobile lounges and onto the plane.

The Heavy concrete support towers lean outwards against the tension of the
cables to provide stability, their geometric configuration maximises their
overturning moment,

The design of the roof, with concrete panels supported by catenary cables,
stands out as an important technical feature of the building and allows for an
uninterrupted interior space to streamline the flow of passengers from the
unloading area up to the mobile lounges and onto the plane.

The Heavy concrete support towers lean outwards against the tension of the
cables to provide stability, their geometric configuration maximises their
overturning moment,
 Madison Square
Garden, New York
Architects
:Charles Luckman

Location: New
York, United
States, Madison Square Garden, often
abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially
Project Year: simply as The Garden or The World's Most
Famous Arena, has been the name of four
1968 arenas in New York City, United States. It is
also the name of the entity which owns the
Type : Theater arena and several of the professional
sports franchises which play there. There
have been four incarnations of the arena. The first two were located at the
Northeast corner of Madison Square (Madison Ave. & 26th St.) from which the
arena derived its name. Subsequently a new 17,000-seat Garden (opened
December 15, 1925) was built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and the
current Garden (opened February 14, 1968) is at 7th Avenue between 31st
and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.

Structural and Architectural Aspects

Madison Square Garden's, in New York City, roof structure uses a network of
cables arranged in a bike wheel formation. The structure was completed in
1968. It has 48 radial cables spreading a diameter of 404ft. The outer ring is
made of steel blocks in compression for the cables to attach to. The center
ring is a steel cable ring which is under tension once the cables pull on it due
to the load above. Madison Square Garden is one of the very few examples in
which the cables were not pretensioned before installation. To keep the
cables in tension the roof has heavy concrete blocks as roof panels and
weights hanging from the cables.

Total weight of the 48 zinc-coated steel cables in the roof system is 163 tons.
Each cable is 1¾ in diameter, the largest ever used in any roof structure, and
composed of 271 steel wires: the rated ultimate strength of 822 tons sets a
new record for a building of this type. Two sockets hold each cable in place,
those for the inner tension ring each weighing 659 lb.

This column-free area – almost 3 acres – is believed to be the only one of its
size in the world with two steel framed storeys above the cables

Marquette Plaza, Minneapolis

Architects :Gunnar Birkerts

Location: United States

Project Year: 1973

Designed by Gunnar Birkerts, it was home to the Federal Reserve Bank of

Minneapolis from 1973 to 1997 (hence, many people refer to it as "the old
Federal Reserve building"). Designed much like a suspension bridge, most of
the original floors are supported by two sets of catenary cables. Underground
chambers were used for vault space, and an external elevator shaft was
attached on the east face of the building to connect a ground-floor lobby with
the rest of the building. There was originally a gap between the lobby and
the rest of the above ground structure to emphasize the construction
method.