Development of membrane stress measurement equipment for membrane structures: proposal of measuring method and its experimental verification

Abstract

One of the most important issues in keeping membrane structures in good condition is to maintain the proper tension distribution over the membrane. However, it is not easy to determine the real stress level in the membrane quantitatively after completion of the structures. Fluttering by strong wind or ponding caused by rain water may cause severe damage to the membrane structure itself. Therefore, it is very important to know the magnitude of existing stress in membrane structures for their maintenance and management. In this paper, the authors propose a new method that can measure membrane stress using sound waves, and hold experimental tests of membrane stress measurement that use the sound external excitation with sine wave and white noise.