Cable strengthened arches

The structural efficiency of arches, subjected to several variable loads, can be increased by strengthening these arches with cables. For these structures it can be necessary, especially in case the permanent load is small, to post-tension the cables to avoid any compression acting on the cables. A method to analyse the load transfer is...

Thin Concrete Barrel Vault

The paper presents the structural design of a thin barrel vault constructed with Fusée Ceramique infill elements. The load transfer is analyzed and validated. For the structure composed of Fusée Ceramique elements, steel and concrete the stresses are calculated and compared to the stresses given in the codes used from 1950 to the present. The...

Reinforcement Toolbox, a Parametric Reinforcement Modelling Tool for Curved Surface Structures

This paper presents a computational strategy and parametric modelling toolbox which aim at enhancing the design- and production process of reinforcement in freeform curved surface structures. The computational strategy encompasses the necessary steps of raising an architectural curved surface model of a concrete building to production level in...

Design of an Emergency Shelter

This paper presents the design of a light and robust temporary emergency shelter with a triangulated polyhedral grid to transfer the lateral and vertical loads efficiently. To simplify the construction the variety of the elements is minimized, only two sizes of elements are applied. For the structural grid alternatives are designed using varying...

Open source engineering and sustainability tools for the built environment

This paper presents two novel open source software developments for design and engineering in the built environment. The first development, called “sustainability-open” [1], aims on providing open source design, analysis and assessment software source code for (environmental) performance of buildings, structures and infrastructure. The aim of...

Discrete design optimization accounting for practical constraints

This paper presents a heuristic algorithm for discrete design optimization, based on the optimality criteria method. Practical applicability is the first concern; special attention is therefore paid to the implementation of technological constraints. The method is generally applicable, but in order to clarify the idea, it is used in this paper...