Veer Narmad South Gujarat University

Shri Gijubhai Chhaganbhai Patel Institute Of Architecture, Interior Design & Fine Arts.

Building Materials & Construction Technology

Case study - Large Span Structure
Sem V Year III
Batch I

Presented By-
Desai Siddhi-12

Guided By- Ar. Vishwanath K.R.

Case Study- Large Span Structure
Turin Exhibition Palace
Architect-pier Luigi Nervi

Location-Turin, Italy

Date-1948 To 1949

Building Type-Exhibition Hall

Construction System- Long Span Reinforced

Concrete

Climate- Mediterranean

Context- Urban

Style- Modern

Notes-engineering As Art - Built In 8 Months.

The Creator's Words
"...two of my most interesting projects, the hangars built of pre-cast elements and the roof for the Turin Exhibition Halls, would
have been impossible without a simultaneous invention of the structural method. They would have looked completely different if
they had been built on the same principle but in a conventional technique.“

— Pier Luigi Nervi from the Introduction of Jürgen Joedicke. The Works of Pier Luigi Nervi. pVII.

On the occasion of Italy's celebrations of 150 years of national unity and

the opening of Pier Luigi Nervi, Architecture as Challenge, a look at
Nervi's historic design for Turin's Palazzo delle Esposizioni.
Introduction
▪ There Two Halls In Turin Exhibition Center.
▪ A Precast Structure Designed By The Engineer Pier Luigi Nervi Was Utilized For The Construction Of The Large Central Hall.
With An Almost Square Plan, Two Side Galleries And A Semicircular Apse.
▪ The Hall Covers Approximately 200 Square Meters.
▪ The Heavier Structures, Which Could Not Be Placed In The Upper Zone, Are Located In Another Semi-circular Hall Below It.
▪ The Unusual Size Of The Building Created A Series Of Uncommon Construction Problems That Are Difficult To Resolve
Through The Use Of Traditional Building Systems. He Employed New Construction Procedures That Had Already Been
Successfully Utilized By The Engineering Firm Nervi And Bartoli Of Rome.

HALL B HALL B HALL C

 Hall C Of Turin Exhibition Palace
• The Hall With A Size Of 65x50 Meters.

• A Vaulted Roof Completed By A Perimetric Slab Of About 10

Meters In Length.

• The Large Vault Of The Hall Rests On Four Arches With A Plane
Inclined According To The Resultant Of The Thrust Of The Vault
And The Weight Of The Perimetral Roof System.

• The Horizontal Rigidity Of The Roof System, Appropriately

Reinforced By Two-way Reinforcing In The Upper Slab, Was
Conceived To Redistribute And Balance The Thrust Of The Vault.

Hall C Under Construction In 1950 Interior Of Hall C Today

Structural Details Of Hall B

▪ The Hall Is Rectangular And Covers An Area Of 240 Feet X

309 Feet.
▪ On One Of The Two Shorter Sides Is A Semi-circular Apse.
Windows Are Arranged In The Corrugation Of The
Prefabricated Roof Elements.
▪ A Semi-circular Apse 132 Feet In Diameter Adjoins The Main
Hall Which Is 240 Feet Long.
a. Its Roof Consists Of Corrugated Pre-cast Units. The Half-
dome Roof Of The Apse Is Also Constructed With
Prefabricated Elements.
▪ The Vaulted Construction Of The Hall Consists Of
Prefabricated Elements Which Spring From In Situ
Concrete Abutments.
▪ The Units Are Of "Ferro-cement" And Have A Length Of
Approximately 15 Feet And A Width Of 8 Feet 3 Inches.
▪ The Thickness Of The Curved Precast Parts Is Less Than 2
Inches.
▪ This Small Thickness Is Achieved Only By The Increased Plan
Rigidity Through The Corrugation And The Transverse Webs
At Either End. The Individual Units Are Joined By In Situ
Concrete.
Section a

Section b
Structural Details Of Span

▪ These Systems Are Essentially Based On Prefabrication And

The Use Of Ferrocement.
▪ The Large Hall 96m X 75m Hall Has A Thin, Corrugated Vaulted
Roof Made Of A Series Of Ferrocement Components
Structurally Bound To Each Other.

▪ The Installation Took Place By Using A Special Scaffolding With

Reinforced Concrete Ribs Along The Ridges And Valleys Of The
Roof Section.
▪ The Elements, As Wide As One Of The "Waves" And 4.40 Meters
In Length, Have A Thickness Of 4 Centimeters.
Vault of the exhibition hall under construction
▪ The Ribs Of The Half-dome Were Modelled With A Linear (2-
Node) Beam Element In 3d With Six Degrees Of Freedom At • The Average Thickness Of The Entire Vault Is Less
Each Node. $E Degrees Of Freedom At Each Node Include Than 8 Centimeters.
Translations In X, Y, And Z Directions And Rotations About The • The Great Importance Of This Particular
X, Y, And Z Directions. Lightness—which Made It Possible To Cover Large
▪ The Building Is Composed By A Large Number Of Elements, 390 Spans Using Limited Material With Incredible Ease
Pre-casted Ferrocement Pans In Seven Different Depths [31], And Construction Speed—is Evident.
Slanted Pillars, And Innovative Solutions Like The Fanned
Elements
▪ The Apsidal Semidome Was Instead Constructed In Small, Lozenge-shaped Prefabricated Ferrocement Tiles.

▪ Used As Permanent Formwork. The Were Connected By Reinforced Concrete Cast On-site In The Lateral Ribs And On Their Tops
And Are Similar To The Roof Of The Ribbed Pavilion Resting On Four Inclined Arches Of The Successive.
Structural Details

▪ The advantages of the construction process are combined

with successful architectural expression.
▪ To be noted in this regard are the fan-shaped transitional
elements connecting the corrugated roof to the structural
piers. For the rotunda's half-dome, having a diameter of 40
meters, the construction system utilized was based on the
prefabrication of rhomboid-shaped elements, connected by
ribs in reinforced concrete.
▪ The structure is completed on its upper surface by a
ferrocement slab having a thickness of approximately 3
centimeters.
▪ The overall depth, taking into account the dimension of the
ribs, is approximately 7 centimeters.

It can be noted that the spontaneous architectural expression,

derived from the sincere exhibition of static and constructive
forms, is the main feature of all the structural elements in the
Turin Exhibition Hall.
Turin Auto Hall, Construction Detail Of The Main Vault
 ▪ The Prefabrication Process Made The Shape Of The Beams
Possible, With Their Enlargement Towards The Structural
Piers Responding Integrally To The Building's Static
Requirements.

The Roof Of The Hall During Construction. Note The

Scale Of Human Figures In The Vast Frame Of The
Structure
▪ The ribs connecting the precast rhomboids are visible on the
interior and constitute an effective architectural motif.

▪ The roof slabs over the lower level and the side galleries of
the hall are replaced by precast beams 7.50 meters in length,
supporting slabs with a double curvature; these are bound
together and statically completed by a thin floor slab
Turin Auto Hall, detail of central hall
Structural Details Of Dome
Indeed It Can Be Noted That The Spontaneous Architectural Expression, Derived From The Sincere Exhibition Of Static And Constructive
Forms, Is The Main Feature Of All The Structural Elements In The Turin Exhibition Hall.

From A Spatial And Structural Conception Point Of View, It Can Be Said That Hall Is Composed By Two Different Spaces:
▪ The Vaulted Undulated Hall And The Half-dome.
▪ Two Spaces Are Linked By A Tympanum And A Vault In Reinforced Concrete, Lightened By Masonry Blocks
 The Ribs Of The Half-dome Were Modelled With A Linear (2- Node) Beam Element In 3D With Six Degrees Of Freedom At Each
Node. The Degrees Of Freedom At Each Node Include Translations In X, Y, And Z Directions And Rotations About The X, Y, And Z
Directions. The Ferrocement Filling Slabs, The Undulated Elements Of The Thin-shell Vault, The Various Slabs, And The Slanted
Piers Were Modelled With Bidimensional Shell Elements With Eight Nodes And Six Degrees Of Freedom At Eachnode:
Translations In The X, Y, And Z Axes And Rotations About the X, Y, And Z Axes.

Figure Shows The Global Fe Model Of Hall B And The Various

A 3D view of the global finite element model of the hall showing its mesh
Materials Used Represented With Different Colours. and different materials (classified by colours).
The Structure In Its Integrity, With Infill Walls Figure(a) And FEM2, Instead, Represents The Structure Without Infill Walls, In Order To
Simulate A Full Damage State For Nonstructural Elements During The Ground Motion Figure (b).
A Series Of Elastic Analyses Of The Entire Undamaged From A Comparison Of The Results Of The Different FE Models, The
Building Were Performed, With The Aim Of Obtaining A Main Issues To Be Raised Concern The Out-of-theplane Movements
Preliminary Rough Description Of The Overall Structural Of The Tympanums, As Highlighted By Lowfrequency Vibration Modes
Behavior. The Eigenvalue Problem Was Solved Considering Figure(b).
Dead Loads. The First 100 Modes Were Extracted From The
Model. Some Of The Principal Modes Are Listed From Figure
(a).

(a) (b)
Mode 1 Of Hall In Its Damaged Configuration (Front View). Mode 6 of Hall in its damaged configuration (apse view).

Mode 3 of Hall in its damaged configuration (front view). Mode 11 Of Hall In Its Damaged Configuration (Apse View).
Accordingly, The Candidate Channels Were Distributed As Follows: 245 Channels In The X Direction, 245 Channels In The Y
Direction, And 161 Channels In The Z Direction. Channels In The Z Direction Have A Lower Number According To The Fact
That In This Direction, Only The Movements Of Vault And The Half-dome Are Considered Significant.
Sensor Configuration Layout: Setup (A) Shows The OSP Sensor Configuration Layout: Placement Of Sensors For The
For The Undamaged Structure And Setup (B) Represents Undamaged Structure, After The Weighting Of The Different
The OSP For The Damaged Structure. Contributions. Also In The Damaged Configuration, There Was An
Improvement In The Placement Of Sensors.
Sensor Configuration Layout: Placement Of Sensors For The Damaged Structure, After The Weighting Of The Different Contributions.

The Mixed Configuration Setup Applied To Hall.

Thank You