Cable nets

saddle-shape
cable net

glass facade with cable-net

glass roof with with cable-net

«Timber, Membrane
and Glass Structures»
course
March 2018

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 1

Simply suspended cable structure (no pretension)
Systems of this type have no stiffness with
respect upward vertical loads (wind suction);
they rely on the roof cladding (very heavy or
stiff)
Simply suspended cable structure
Pretensioned cable structure (with cables in parallel planes)

Lighter and stiffer systems than the simply

suspended systems can be achieved if a
second set of cables with reverse curvature
is connected to the hanging cables.
The structure is made up of cable trusses
arranged in parallel planes.
Pretension is essential: both the hanging
cables and the bracing cables have to Cable truss structure, with concave
remain in tension under any load case. upper surface (and corrugated metal
roof decking)

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 2

Washington Dulles International Airport

Example of simply suspended cable roof

system (no pretension in the cables)
Architect: Eero Saarinen;
Completion: 1962

 cable span = 164 feet (≈ 50 m);

 tipped and tapered reinforced concrete
columns along the two facades;
 precast concrete slabs are used to form
the cladding.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 3

Dulles International Airport

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 4

Travi piane di funi
(costituite da due funi complanari a curvatura contrapposta collegate tra loro)

“Sistema aperto” (a): fune superiore portante,

fune inferiore stabilizzante, con elementi verticali sempre in
trazione (quindi realizzabili con funi);
(a) Superficie sup. con concavita’ verso l’alto: e’ necessario evitare
il ristagno delle acque piovane.

“Sistema chiuso” (b); fune inferiore portante e fune superiore

stabilizzante; gli elementi verticali sono compressi (quindi
dovranno essere costituiti da elementi con sufficiente rigidezza
(b) flessionale per evitare instabilita’);
Vantaggi: facilita’ di smaltimento delle acque meteoriche e
presenza di un solo cavo di ancoraggio esterno.
Svantaggio: possibilita’ di rotazione della trave attorno all’asse
per i punti di ancoraggio (necessita’ di controventi di falda).
(c)

“Sistema misto” (c); fune portante e fune stabilizzante

che si intersecano; gli elementi verticali all’interno dei punti di
intersezione sono compressi e all’esterno sono tesi .
Questo sistema permette di contenere l’altezza totale della
Inconveniente delle travi di funi
copertura; anche qui occorre contrastare la rotazione della trave
a collegamenti verticali: elevata
fuori dal suo piano (controventi) e provvedere allo smaltimento
deformabilita’ sotto carichi asimmetrici.
delle acque meteoriche.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 5

Pretensioned cable beams

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 6

Cable beams

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 7

 Simply suspended cable roof, with
cables in radial planes between inner
tension ring and outer compression
ring

Cable roof, with prestressed radial cable beams

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 8

Cable nets with boundary (and interior) arches

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 9

 Dorton Arena,
Raleigh (North Carolina);
completed in 1952.
.

The cable network consists of

47 prestressed cables with diameter varying
from 19 mm to 33 mm .
The building has dimensions of 92 m x 97 m .
The stiffness of the roof is achieved through
double curvature of the cable-net and its
pretensioning. G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 10
Dorton Arena, Raleigh (North Carolina).
First example of cable-supported roof system in the world.
Saddle-shaped cable roof. The cables are connected to a pair of
intersecting parabolic arches (in reinforced concrete) supported by
slender columns around the structure’s perimeter.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 11

Ground anchorage systems
resistent to tension forces

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 12

 Utica Memorial Auditorium «double – bicycle wheel»
cable suspended roof:
location: Utica, New York two layers of pre-tensioned cables span
3800-seat multi-purpose arena between an outer compression ring and an
inner tension ring; top and bottom cables
completion date: 1960 are separated by compression struts.

In 2011, the
American Society of
Civil Engineers
(ASCE) named the
Utica Memorial
Auditorium as a
National Historic Civil
Engineering
Landmark.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 13

 Utica Memorial
Auditorium,
New York

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 14

Utica Memorial Auditorium, New York

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 15


New York City
In the Madison Square Garden roof the cables
were not pretensioned.
To keep the cables in tension the roof has
heavy concrete blocks as roof panels.
Madison Square Garden
The roof structure uses a
network of cables arranged
in a bike wheel formation.
The structure was
completed in 1968.
It has 48 radial cables
spreading a diameter of 404
feet (≈ 123 m).
The outer ring is made of
steel blocks in compression
for the cables to attach to.
The center ring is a steel
cable ring which is under
tension once the cables pull
on it due to the load above.
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 16
Madison Square Garden

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 17

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 18
Madison Square Garden

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 19

Facade of the Kempinski Hotel in Munich
project year 1993
40 x 25 m glass facade cable net
with a mesh width of 1.50 x 1.50 m

Detail of the fitting used to connect the

cables with the glass panes
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 20
Time Warner Center, main entrance
(Manhattan, New York)

Flat cable net

which spans 45.7 m vertically
and 27.4 m from side to side

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 21

 Modelli in fili di acciaio

Padiglione Germania all’Exp 1967 di Montreal F. Otto : modello del 1971

Tecnica impiegata per ottenere informazioni quantitative sul comportamento della struttura
(soggetta allo stato di pre-sollecitazione e all’azione dei carichi accidentali) negli anni in cui
non erano disponibili i modelli numerici.
Si eseguono misure di deformazione sui fili del modello in scala.
Deve valere una condizione di similitudine geometrica (il rapporto tra ogni grandezza geome-
trica nella struttura reale e la corrispondente grandezza nel modello e’ costante).

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 22

German Pavilion at Expo 1967, Montreal
Frei Otto

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 23

 German Pavilion
at Expo 1967, Montreal

Translucent skin hung

from the steel wire net

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 24

Stadio di Monaco

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 25

Olympic Velodrome (London) – cable net roof

6000 seat velodrome

construction period: 2009-2011

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 26

 Olympic Velodrome (London) – cable net roof

The roof is built up from more than 1,000 plywood-faced panels

matching the size of the 3.6 m grid.
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 27
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 28
The cable net is made up
of pairs of 36 mm diameter
spiral strand cables on a 3.6 m
The roof is built up from more than 1,000
grid, locked together with
plywood-faced panels matching
forged steel nodes at each
the size of the 3.6 m grid.
cable intersection.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 29

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 30
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 31
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 32
 Books on Tensile Structures

M. Majowiecki, “Tensostrutture – Progetto e Verifica”, Edizioni CREA, 1994.

A. Capasso, “Le Tensostrutture a Membrana per l’Architettura”, Maggioli Editore, 1993.

H.A. Buchholdt, “Introduction to Cable Roof Structures”, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985.

K.M. Koch, “Membrane Structures”, Prestel, 2004.

W. J. Lewis, “Tension Structures: Form and Behavior”, Thomas Telford, 2003.

C.G. Huntington, “The Tensioned Fabric Roof”, American Society of Civil Engineers , 2004.

F. Otto, “Tensile Structures”, MIT Press, 1962.

P. Matildi, C. Foti, A. Sollazzo, “Tensostrutture e Sistemi Reticolari Spaziali”, Italsider, 1971.

J. Kadlčák, “Statics of Suspension Cable Roofs”, Balkema, 1995.

R. Levy, W. R. Spillers, “Analysis of Geometrically Nonlinear Structures” (2nd edition),

Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

K.M. Koch, K.J. Habermann, “Membrane Structures: The Fifth Building Material”,
Prestel Publishing, 2005.
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 33
Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, California

Built: 1933-1937

It is a suspension bridge

- main span 1280 m

- number of cables: 2 ; strands per cable: 92 ;
wires per strand: 27572 ;
- deck width: 27 m ; deck depth: 7.6 m ;
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 34
 Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
New York City

Double-decked suspension bridge center span of 4,260 feet (1,298 m)

- Largest suspension bridge in the world from the time of its completion in 1964 until 1981
- Each of the two towers contains 1,000,000 bolts and 3,000,000 rivets.
- The diameter of each of the four suspension cables is 36’’ (91.44 cm); each cable is composed of 26,108
wires amounting to a total of 143,000 miles in length;
- Due to the height of the towers (690') and their distance apart (4260'), the curvature of the earth's surface
had to be taken into account when designing the bridge -- the towers are 1⅝ inches farther apart at their
tops than at their bases;
- Due to thermal expansion/contraction of steel, the bridge roadway is 12' lower in summer than its winter
elevation.
- Largest suspension bridge in the world from the time of its completion in 1964 until 1981
G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 35
Tilikun Crossing is a cable-stayed bridge across the Willamette River
in Portland, Oregon, United States.

G.Novati - DICA - PoliMI 36