A microcomputer-based analysis and design of air-supported cylindrical membranes

Abstract

An approximate, simple, and reliable method of analysis is presented for an air-supported cylindrical membrane structure. Furthermore, to use this method of analysis for design purposes, a brief description of dominant design loads and its formulation as applied to air-supported structures is also given based on design practice and experiments. Incorporating both the method of analysis and the described design loads, a microcomputer-based program, coded in MS Quickbasic, has been developed, which is simple to use and completely user friendly.First, the reliability of the approach is established by comparing it with available published studies on circular cylindrical air-supported structures, based on rigorous modelling and analysis. Then, several illustrative examples are presented for different heights and spans under various loading combinations as per current design practice. Key words: air-supported membrane, cylindrical, finite displacement, microcomputer based, approximate, analysis, design.