Tech-net 'EASY' membrane force and cable analysis software.
EASY analysis tools provide the most effective method of assessing the forces in the structures membrane, it's cables and the reaction loads on the supporting steelwork. With the ability to define and model precisely the ultimate tensile strength and stiffness of the membrane and reinforcement materials, and then to determine maximum loads, deflections and reaction loads from the dynamic membrane, every condition can be simulated and shown.
Fabric structures possess significant structural and architectural advantages over conventional structures. However, fabric structures also present a unique set of design challenges.  The shapes of membrane structures cannot be chosen at random.  The absence of bending resistance's requires designers to work within the constraints of feasible membrane equilibrium shapes.  These shapes are usually complex, doubly curved surfaces which must be pretensioned in such a way to resist applied loading such as wind and snow.  A tensile membrane structure is prestressed and stabilised by the counteracting tensions of opposing curvatures of an anticlastic surface (two-directional curvature of opposite sign, as a saddle surface).  Where flat profile sheet design is envisaged, the initial prestress is significantly higher due to the need to prevent movement. Special non-linear techniques are necessary for the structural analysis of tension structures, since membranes undergo shape changes under varying load conditions and fabric materials exhibit complex stress-strain response.  Computer-based finite element techniques such as EASY are used to solve these non-linear problems.
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