Long span roof are today widely applied for sport, social, industrial, ecological and other activities.

The experience collected in last decades identified structural typologies as space

structures, cable structures, membrane structures and new - under tension - efficient materials which combination deals with lightweight structural systems, as the state of art on long
span structural design. In order to increase the reliability assessment of wide span structural systems a knowledge based synthetic conceptual design approach is recommended.
Theoretical and experimental in scale analysis, combined with a monitoring control of the subsequent performance of the structural system, can calibrate mathematical modelling and
evaluate long term sufficiency of design.

INTRODUCTION
Long span structures are today widely applied mainly for sport buildings as: − Stadia − Sport halls − Olympic swimming pools − Ice tracks and skating rinks − Indoor athletics The
state of the art trend on widespan enclosures: the lightweight structures - from compression to tension.

Space structures
– single layer grids 1 2
– double and multi layer grids
– single and double curvature space frames

Cable structures
– cable stayed roofs
– suspended roofs
– cable trusses
– singleand multilayer nets

Membrane structures
– prestressed anticlastic membranes 3 4 5
– pneumatic membranes

Hybrid structures
– tensegrity systems
– beam-cable systems

Convertible roofs
– overlapping sliding system
– pivoted system
– folding system

NAME: SRUSHTI DABADE

M O D E R N M A T E R I A L S IN L O N G S P A N S TRU C T U R E S ROLL.NO: 04
Steel Structures

Steel is the major material for long-span structures. Bending structures originally developed for bridges, such as plate girders and trusses, are used in long-span buildings. Plate girders
are welded from steel plates to make I beams that are deeper than the standard rolled shapes and that can span up to 60 metres (200 feet); however, they are not very efficient in their
use of material. Trusses are hollowed-out beams in which the stresses are channeled into slender linear members made of rolled shapes that are joined by welding or bolting into stable
triangular configurations. The members of trusses act either in pure compression or pure tension: in the top and bottom horizontal members the forces are greatest at the centre of the
span, and in the verticals and diagonals they are greatest at the supports. Trusses are highly efficient in bending and have been made up to 190 metres (623 feet) in span. Two-way grids
can be made of either plate girders or trusses to span square spaces up to 91 metres (300 feet) in size; these two-way structures are more efficient but more expensive to build.

The highly efficient funicular forms are used for the longest spans. Vaults made of rows of parabolic arches, usually in truss form for greater rigidity, have been used for spans of up to
98.5 metres (323 feet). Steel truss domes, particularly the Schwedler triangulated dome, have been the choice for several large covered stadiums, with the greatest span being 204.2
metres (669 feet). Cable-stayed roof construction is another structural system derived from bridge building. A flat roof structure in bending is supported from above by steel cables
2
radiating downward from masts that rise above roof level; spans of up to 72 metres (236 feet) have been built. Another funicular form is the bicycle-wheel roof, where two layers of
1
radiating tension cables separated by small compression struts connect a small inner tension ring to the outer compression ring, which is in turn supported by columns.

Tension-cable networks use a mesh of cables stretched from masts or continuous ribs to form a taut surface of negative curvature, such as a saddle or trumpet shape; the network of
cables can be replaced by synthetic fabrics to form the tension surface. Another fabric structure using tension cables is the air-supported membrane. A network of cables is attached by
continuous seams to the fabric, and the assembly of cables and fabric is supported by a compression ring at the edge. The air pressure within the building is increased slightly to resist
exterior wind pressure. The increase can be as slight as 1.5 percent of atmospheric pressure, and it is possible to maintain this even in large buildings with relatively small compressors.
The cables stiffen the fabric against flutter under uneven wind pressure and support it in case of accidental deflation.

4 5

NAME: SRUSHTI DABADE

M O D E R N M A T E R I A L S IN L O N G S P A N S TRU C T U R E S ROLL.NO: 04
 Concrete structures

Reinforced concrete, because of its inherent strength in compression, is primarily used for long spans in funicular compression forms, including vaults, shells, and domes. Thin parabolic
shell vaults stiffened with ribs have been built with spans up to about 90 metres (300 feet). More complex forms of concrete shells have been made, including hyperbolic paraboloids, or
saddle shapes, and intersecting parabolic vaults. An example of the latter is the CNIT Exhibition Hall in Paris, which consists of six intersecting double-shell parabolic vaults built to span
a triangular space 216 metres (708 feet) on a side with supports only at the apexes of the triangle. Reinforced concrete domes, which are usually also of parabolic section, are built
either in ribbed form or as thin shells. The maximum span of these domes is about 200 metres (660 feet).

Another funicular form used in concrete, though it is really a composite structure, is the inverted dome, or dish. As in the steel bicycle wheel, a concrete compression ring resting on
columns at the perimeter of the structure supports radial steel cables that run inward and downward to a small steel tension ring at the centre, forming the dish shape. The cable network
is stiffened against wind forces by encasing it in a poured concrete dish; structures of this type have been built with spans of up to 126 metres (420 feet).

Also for long spans, reinforced concrete is preferred with pre-stressing or post-tensioning. E.g- long span bridges

1 2

PVC/ HDPE structures : (for temporary long span structures)

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These type of plastic materials are mainly used in creating roofing surfaces, but in recent times they are been used for temporary long span structures which are more economic and
light weight . (eg- HDPE tent structures, geodestic domes in PVC, PVC strut and pipe green houses, etc),

NAME: SRUSHTI DABADE

M O D E R N M A T E R I A L S IN L O N G S P A N S TRU C T U R E S ROLL.NO: 04