Faltung von textilen Membranen bei wandelbaren Leichtbaukonstruktionen

Folding of textile membranes in retractable lightweight structures

Two of the largest retractable membrane roofs in the world were recently completed. The National Stadium in Warsaw and BC Place Stadium in Vancouver have retractable membrane portions each with sizes up to 10000 m². The Stadium in Warsaw has a mechanically pre-stressed membrane while the structure in Vancouver uses inflated membrane cushions to withstand severe snow loading. In the following article required material properties for retractable membrane solutions will be discussed, since the repetitive folding of the membrane during the retraction puts significant demands to the textile material and its coating system. By means of especially developed testing methods it is described how the most suitable membrane material can be found, taken into account the concept design of the project.