Membrane structure buildings are becoming more and more widely used in our daily lives and are becoming increasingly popular among people. Today, we will take a look at the four basic shapes of membrane structure buildings with the help of the Zhongmu steel membrane structure. Different shapes of membrane structure buildings allow us to better understand the characteristics of curved surfaces and forces.

The umbrella shape of membrane structure buildings

The umbrella-shaped membrane structure building is one of the most common forms of tensioned membrane structures.The characteristics of this structure are: the location of the membrane periphery is relatively low, and most of it is fixed on rigid side beams or flexible side cables.

There will be one or more high points in the middle of the membrane surface, forming a cone shape.When the span of the membrane surface is large, a ridge can be set between the high point of the membrane surface and the support points of the columns on the edge, thereby sharing the corresponding membrane force.

The saddle shape of membrane structure buildings

The saddle-shaped membrane structure building is a commonly used structural form in our daily life.The characteristic of this structure is that the saddle-shaped surface is enclosed by four non-coplanar corner points and edge components connecting the corner points, which is a typical reciprocal surface form.

The edge components of the saddle-shaped membrane structure can be concrete beams or steel trusses; they can also use side cables to form flexible boundaries by applying large pre-tension forces.The spatial span of the saddle-shaped membrane structure is relatively small, so it is mostly used in membrane structure building products.

The arched shape of membrane structure buildings

The structural characteristics of the arch-supported membrane structure building are: the arch-supported structure uses arches as membrane materials to provide continuous support points, and the structural plane is circular or elliptical.

When the span of the membrane structure is large, orthogonal cable nets are arranged between the central arch and the lower edge components.Therefore, arch-supported membrane structures are mostly used in enclosed buildings in daily life.

The ridge-and-valley shape of membrane structure buildings

The characteristics of the ridge-valley-type membrane structure building are: arranging parallel ridge cables between the two high points of the membrane structure building, arranging valley cables between the two low points, and arranging the ridge cables and valley cables alternately so that the curved surface is wavy;and the membrane surface between the ridge cables and valley cables forms a negative Gaussian curvature surface.The structural plane of the ridge-valley-type membrane structure is mostly rectangular.

The above are four shapes of membrane structure buildings, all of which form a series of high points and low points on the membrane surface through rigid supporting members and connectors;although following the same principle, four different shapes can be designed.

The design of membrane structure buildings can undergo various changes and deformations. In our daily lives, through the requirements of customers and the unique ideas of designers, we can grasp the essence of natural and smooth membrane structures based on actual conditions, and create more novel and chic membrane structure buildings.