Tatsuya Yoshino

Formulation of constitutive equations for fabric membranes based on the concept of fabric lattice model

The present paper proposes and discusses a new formulation of continuum constitutive equations for fabric membranes for architecture. The formulation is based on a fabric lattice model where the structure of the fabric membranes is replaced into an equivalent structure composed of truss bars representing yarns and coated materials. The equations consider the material nonlinearities of yarns and coatings and include crimp interchange between warps and wefts. Since the equations are formulated in an incremental form in terms of in-plane strains, the formulations can be directly applied to FEM analysis of the fabric membranes. The validity of the proposed constitutive equations is discussed by comparing the simulated results with those obtained by testing the materials under uni-axial, bi-axial and shear loadings.

Design wind force coefficients for freestanding canopy roofs of membrane structures

The present study examines the wind-induced behaviour of free-standing membrane canopy roofs with various types of roof-supporting systems and presents wind force coefficients for designing such roofs. The effects of roof deformation and choice of roof-supporting system on wind force coefficients are investigated. the characteristics of wind-induced responses of the roofs are taken into account for improving the wind force coefficients that we previously proposed based on the results of wind tunnel experiment with rigid roof models.