TENSILE

STRUCTURES
 Index
qAcknowledgements
qTension
qTensile Strength
qSpider Web
qHistory
qTypes Of Structures With Significant Tension Members
qLinear Structures
qThree Dimensional Structures
qMembrane Materials
qCables
qStructural Forms
qForm Finding
qHyperbolic Paraboloid
qPretension
qMathematics Of Cables
qTransversely and Uniformly Loaded Cables
qCable with Central Point Load
qGallery Of Well Known Structures
qConclusion
qBibliography
q
Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deepest appreciation

for our coordinator Mr . Sandeep Mishra who has
the substance of a genius, he continuously conveyed
a spirit of adventure to our project. It is his
patient help which inspired us when it seemed we
had lost our will to carry on. Without his able
guidance this project would not have seen the light
of the day. Thank You.

With regards,
Project Team.

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Tension
In physics, tension is the magnitude of the pulling force
exerted by a string, cable, chain, or similar object on
another object. It is the opposite of compression. As
tension is a force, it is measured in Newton's (or
sometimes pounds-force) and is always measured parallel to
the string on which it applies. There are two basic
possibilities for systems of objects held by strings.
Either acceleration is zero and the system is therefore in
equilibrium or there is acceleration and therefore a net
force is present. Note that a string is assumed to have
negligible mass.

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Tensile strength
Tensile strength (σUTS or SU ) is indicated by
the maxima of a stress-strain curve and, in
general, indicates when necking will occur. As it
is an intensive property, its value does not
depend on the size of the test specimen. It is,
however, dependent on the preparation of the
specimen and the temperature of the test
environment and material.

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Tensile strength , along with elastic
modulus and corrosion resistance, is an important parameter
of engineering materials used in structures and mechanical
devices. It is specified for materials such as alloys,
composite materials, ceramics, plastics and wood.

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Spider Web
A spider web or cobweb (from the obsolete word coppe,
meaning "spider") is a device built by a spider out of
proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.

Spider silk Ultimate tensile strength : 1,000 MPa

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TYPES OF SPIDER WEB

qSpiral orb web

qTangle web
qFunnel web
qTubular web
qSheet web
qDome or tent web

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Spiral orb web

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Tangle web

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Funnel web

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Tubular webs

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Sheet web

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Dome or tent web

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History

Tensile structures have long been used in tents,

where the guy ropes provide pre-tension to the
fabric and allow it to withstand loads.

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A Simple Paraboloid defined by a Minimum of Four
Points with at Least One out of Plane

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Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov was one of the first to
develop practical calculations of stresses and
deformations of tensile structures, shells and membranes.
Shukhov designed eight tensile structures and thin-shell
structures exhibition pavilions for the Nizhny Novgorod
Fair of 1896, covering the area of 27,000 mts2.

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 << SHELL STRUCTURE

MEMBRANE STRUCTURE >>

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Types of structure with
significant tension members

qLinear structures
qThree-dimensional structures
qSurface-stressed structures

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Linear structures

qSuspension bridges
qDraped cables
qCable-stayed beams or trusses
qCable trusses
qStraight tensioned cables

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SUSPENSION BRIDGE
Three-dimensional structures

qBicycle wheel (can be used as a

roof in a horizontal orientation)
q3D cable trusses
qTensegrity structures
qTensairity structures

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Membrane materials
Common materials for doubly-
curved fabric structures are
PTFE coated fibreglass and PVC
coated polyester. These are
woven materials with different
strengths in different
directions. The warp fibres
(those fibres which are
originally straight equivalent
to the starting fibres on a
loom) can carry greater load
than the weft or fill fibres,
which are woven between the
warp fibres.

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 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

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Cables
Simple suspended bridge working entirely in tension
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).

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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. 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.

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Properties of individuals strands of different materials :

(ultimate tensile
strength)

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Structural forms
Air-supported structures are a form of tensile structures
where the fabric envelope is supported by pressurised air
only.
The majority of fabric structures derive their strength
from their doubly-curved shape. By forcing the fabric to
take on double-curvature, the fabric gains sufficient
stiffness to withstand the loads it is subjected to (for
example wind and snow loads). In order to induce an
adequately doubly curved form it is most often necessary
to pretension or prestress the fabric or its supporting
structure.

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Form-finding
The behaviour of structures which depend upon prestress to
attain their strength is non-linear, so anything other than
a very simple cable has, until the 1990s, been very
difficult to design. The most common way to design doubly
curved fabric structures was to construct scale models of
the final buildings in order to understand their behaviour
and to conduct form-finding exercises. Such scale models
often employed stocking material or tights, or soap film,
as they behave in a very similar way to structural fabrics
(they cannot carry shear).

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Soap films have uniform stress in every direction and require a closed
boundary to form. They naturally form a minimal surface—the form with minimal
area and embodying minimal energy. They are however very difficult to measure.
For large films the self-weight of the film can seriously and adversely affect
the form.
For a membrane with curvature in two directions, the basic equation of
equilibrium is:w =( t1 / R1 )+( t2 / R2 )

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R1 and R2 are the principal radii of curvature for soap
films or the directions of the warp and weft for fabrics
t1 and t2 are the tensions in the relevant directions
w is the load per square metre
Lines of principal curvature have no twist and intersect
other lines of principal curvature at right angles.
A geodesic or geodetic line is usually the shortest line
between two points on the surface. These lines are
typically used when defining the cutting pattern seam-
lines. This is due to their relative straightness after the
planar cloths have been generated, resulting in lower cloth
wastage and closer alignment with the fabric weave.
In a pre-stressed but unloaded surface w = 0, so t1/R1= -
(t2/R2) .
In a soap film surface tensions are uniform in both
directions, so R1 = −R2.

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It is now possible to use powerful non-linear numerical
analysis programs (or finite element analysis to formfind
and design fabric and cable structures. The programs must
allow for large deflections.
The final shape, or form, of a fabric structure depends
upon:
shape, or pattern, of the fabric
the geometry of the supporting structure (such as masts,
cables, ringbeams etc)
the pretension applied to the fabric or its supporting
structure

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Hyperbolic Paraboloid

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There are many different doubly-curved forms, many of which
have special mathematical properties. The most basic doubly
curved from is the saddle shape, which can be a hyperbolic
paraboloid (not all saddle shapes are hyperbolic
paraboloids). This is a double ruled surface and is often
used in both in lightweight shell structures. True ruled
surfaces are rarely found in tensile structures. Other
forms are anticlastic saddles, various radial, conical tent
forms and any combination of them.

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Pretension
It is tension artificially induced in the structural
elements in addition to any self-weight or imposed loads
they may carry. It is used to ensure that the normally very
flexible structural elements remain stiff under all
possible loads.
A day to day example of pretension is a shelving unit
supported by wires running from floor to ceiling. The wires
hold the shelves in place because they are tensioned - if
the wires were slack the system would not work.
Pretension can be applied to a membrane by stretching it
from its edges or by pretensioning cables which support it
and hence changing its shape. The level of pretension
applied determines the shape of a membrane structure.

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Simple mathematics of cables

qTransversely and uniformly loaded

cable
qCable with central point load

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Transversely and uniformly
loaded cable
For a cable spanning between two supports the simplifying
assumption can be made that it forms a circular arc (of
radius R).

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 The tension is also equal to : T =wR
By equilibrium : The horizontal and vertical : H=wS2/8d ,
V=wS/2.
By geometry : The length of the cable : L=2Rsin (S/2R)
The tension in the cable : T=(H2+V2)12/
By substitution : T=[(wS2/8d)2 + (wS/2)2]12/
The tension is also equal to: T = wR
The extension of the cable upon being loaded is (from
Hooke's Law, where the axial stiffness, k, is equal to
k=EA/L) : e = TL/EA where E is the Young's modulus of
the cable and A is its cross-sectional area.
If an initial pretension, T0 is added to the cable, the
extension becomes:
[{L 0 ( T - T 0 )}/ EA ]+ L 0 = {2Tsin -
1 ( wS / 2T )}/ w

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Cable with central point load

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By equilibrium : W=(4Td)/L, d+(WL)/4T
By geometry : L= (S2+4d2)12/ = {S2+4(WL/2T)2}12/

This gives the following relationship

L 0 +{L 0 ( T - T 0 )}/ EA = [ S 2 + 4 [ W [ L 0 +{L 0 ( T -
T 0 )}/ EA ]/ 4T ]] 1/2
As before, plotting the left hand side and right hand side
of the equation against the tension, T, will give the
equilibrium tension for a given pretension, T0 and load, W.

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 GALLERY OF WELL KNOWN
STRUCTURES

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Conclusion

“Any person without invincible prejudice who had the same

experience would come to the same broad conclusion, viz.,
that things hitherto held impossible do actually
occur”- Oliver Joseph Lodge

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Bibliography
qwww.google.com
q
qwww.wikipedia.org