Architechtural Features

Conventional structures have an internal rigidity to be stable. Fabric structures being mainly fabric and cables have little or no rigidity and therefore must rely on their form and internal pre-stress to perform the same function.

To resist these loads we have to put equal loads into the fabric for it to remain stable, the pre-stress.

Because fabric structures rely on internal tensile forces to remain stable their behaviour is more complicated than their conventional counterparts and therefore they are more difficult to design. The significant changes in their geometry means they are non-linear even though the fabric remains more or less stable. If properly designed this is a desirable quality that increases their ability to carry load as they deform from the effect of live loads. Fabric Structures are more capable in this respect due to their very high strength weight ratio than equal spans of concrete or steel.

As a rule of thumb spans greater than 15 metres should be avoided however, much greater spans can be achieved by reinforcing the fabric with webbing or cables.

These loads have to be transmitted into our support structure. A support structure might be edge tripods, central masts or push-ups, we might decide to suspend the fabric in some form to give a very large mast free area. In a closed system the edge will be supported continuously by a "Kader" in an extruded section.