Anticlastic structures
Tensile surfaces, that is, surfaces which carry only tension and no compression or bending, rely on double curvature for their stability. Stability is provided by the opposition of two curvatures which enable the surface to be tensioned without losing its form.
Tensioning the surface reduces its elasticity and so its tendency to deform under load, and the curvature itself means that the surface will deform less for any given extension.
Tensile surfaces can be used in buildings to create thin, long span enclosures, such as roofs for sports stadia, shopping centres, atria and so on. Typically they are constructed using a PVC coated polyester or PTFE coated glass fabric, typically just 1 mm thick.
Double curvature can be anticlastic or synclastic.
Anticlastic (saddle-shaped). | Synclastic (dome-shaped) |
Anticlastic surfaces are those in which the centres of curvature are located on opposing sides of the surface. This is commonly-described as a saddle shape. A hyperbolic paraboloid is an anticlastic surface.
Synclastic surfaces are those in which the centres or curvature are on the same side of the surface. This is a dome-shape. This can be created with an architectural fabric by inflation – that is, air pressure within the dome maintains the form of the surface when it is tensioned, rather than the opposition of the curvatures.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Barrel vault.
- Biaxial bending.
- Concept structural design of buildings.
- Conoid shell.
- Fabric structures.
- Hyperbolic paraboloid.
- Limit state design.
- Millennium Dome.
- Structural engineer.
- Synclastic.
- Tensegrity.
- Tensile structures.
- The development of structural membranes.
- The structural behaviour of architectural fabric structures.
- Types of dome.
[edit] External references
- ‘How structures work: Design and behavior from bridges to buildings’ (2nd ed.), YEOMANS, D., Wiley (2016)
Featured articles and news
Introducing or next Guest Editor Arun Baybars
Practising architect and design panel review member.
Quick summary by size, shape, test, material, use or bonding.
Types of rapidly renewable content
From forestry to agricultural crops and their by-products.
Terraced houses and the public realm
The discernible difference between the public realm of detached housing and of terraced housing.
Put digitalisation and sustainability at the core of curricula
Project management educators are urged.
Looking back at the influence of climate events
From a designer and writer: 'There are limits to growth but no limits to development'.
Terms, histories, theories and practice.
Biophilic design and natural light
Letting in the light and natural elements into spaces.
APM Programme Management Conference 2024
Strategies for Success.
Residential takes the reins as contract awards even out
Contracts down, but remain above the last quarter of 2023.
Celebrating Eid and the largest mud-brick building.
Barry Kingscote claims prestigious CIOB CMYA Award.
The British Mosque: an architectural and social history
The story of some 1,500 mosques or more in Britain.
Heat pump refrigerants, efficiencies and impacts
R12 to R1270 what are the differences?
Global heat pump market in 2023
Challenging times with positive but modest outlook.
Beyond the infrastructure pipeline
Opportunities and chokepoints.