A non-parametric approach is proposed for shape design of free-form shells discretized into triangular mesh. The discretized forms of curvatures are used for computing the fairness measures of the surface. The measures are defined as the area of the offset sur...

The active bending concept provides a new perspective for a well-established structural type which has been used at various scales: the beam-string, consisting of a beam with an attached lower tie in tension and bracing struts balancing the forces between them...

Topology optimization techniques based on finite element analysis have been widely used in many fields, but most of the research and applications are based on single-material structures. Extended from the bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BE...

structure and form, which today is understood and admired as the art of engineering, "Baukultur". His work is often associated with his virtuoso handling of concrete as a building material and the construction of daring shell structures. But his diverse bridge...

The present study proposes an efficient scheme to estimate elastic-plastic buckling load of a shallow grid dome stiffened by diagonal braces. The dome is circular in plan. It is assumed to be subject to a uniform vertical load and to be supported by a substruc...

Kirigami is a transformable system obtained by adding cuts on a sheet material and bending or folding the sheet. It is reported that when a tensile force is applied to a thin sheet with a slit pattern, three-dimensional corrugated surfaces are induced by the o...

Pressurized thin-wall structures cover a broad range of applications, including storage tanks, pressurized rubber flood barriers, and large span enclosures. To accurately model such structures, the analyst must select the appropriate mechanical formulation (e....

Location of Project: Barcelona, Spain <br/> Structural Type: thin shell roof <br/> Project Scale: 1.9 m by 3.55 m in plan <br/> Architect: Lisa Ramsburg and Albert Chao <br/> Structural Engineer: Edward M. Segal and Powell Draper <br...

The large-span ice shell is a novel building style with the aid of inflatable formwork and water-spraying method. Ice material has strong temperature sensitivity, and the ice shell experiences complicated environmental conditions during the operation stage. A ...

In this paper, artificial bee colony (ABC) to obtain the decent solutions that the authors proposed is applied to the structural morphogenesis for RC (Reinforced-Concrete) free-form surface shell with arbitrary boundary shape. The 'decent solutions' have relat...

The Sports Palace of Mexico City was built in 1968 and became a turning point in the design and construction of laminar shells, leading the transition from reinforced concrete to metallic grid structures. Felix Candela observed that the use of concrete in desi...

This paper deals with the numerical impact analysis of tubular thin-walled steel-made elements with induced folding for energy dissipation application. The excellent deceleration of the impacting mass of axial collapsing structures favors their use in energy d...

The large impact of building structures on the environment must be reduced to meet the global targets fixed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Standard building structures with constant prismatic cross-section have material inefficiencies of aro...

Location of Project: Dee Why, NSW, Australia<br/> Structural Type: Prefabricated thin concrete shell <br/> Project Scale: Length 30 m, width 15.5 m, height 12 m <br/> Owner/Client: Warringah Catholic Parish <br/> Architect: Gibbons &amp...

Torroja excelled as a designer, as a docent, as a code-maker and as a founder of technical associations. Nothing was conceded to improvisation. Every outcome of his thought was the mature fruit of deep reflections; of precise knowledge of the problem's formula...

June 15 of this year 2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the death of Eduardo Torroja. Without a doubt, one of the best tributes to this distinguished Spanish engineer, who founded the International Association for Shell Structures in 1959, is to remind him pre...

The article describes a new construction system for shell structures made from door- and window cut-offs resulting from cross laminated timber (CLT) production lines. For the first time, form-fitting fasteners made of beech laminated veneer lumber are used in ...

This paper investigates the seismic response characteristics of long-span domes. The natural periods of the prominent modes are longer than medium-span domes, which leads to a greater contribution from the higher modes to the response of the long-span dome. Th...

The design of envelopes with complex geometries often leads to construction challenges. To overcome these difficulties, resorting to discrete differential geometry proved successful by establishing close links between mesh properties and the existence of good ...

Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of geometrical and mechanical changes of nominally plane steel sheets folded in one direction, caused by big elastic shape transformations were invented on the basis of the authors' tests, analyzes and computational...