STRUCTURAL ELEMENT MADE OF A BENT SURFACE AND A TENSILE MEMBRANE

摘要

A structural system that may be applied as an element in the construction of buildings, portable shelters, furniture, home accessories or where rigid structural elements are necessary . The invention of this system is based on two principal parts, which, when combined produce a system with a load bearing capacity. A flat surface or sheet is pre-deformed or tensioned by a limiting membrane, forming a curvilinear volume. The structure is comprised of a bendable surface or a sheet and a tensile membrane connected along virtually the entire periphery of the sheet. The membrane ca n envelop the entire sheet so that the sheet is bent inside it. Because of the sheet, the stretched tensile membrane assumes a saddle-shape, or a surface of negative Gaussian curvature.