Peter Debney, BEng(Hons), CEng, MIStructE, is a Chartered Structural Engineer and software specialist with over 20 years’ experience specializing in computing applications, half of those in practice and the rest in engineering software, whether BIM, analysis or design. He is an application specialist for Oasys, concentrating on structural and crowd simulation software.
Traditional structures are linear, stiff, restricted, heavy, and inefficient; lightweight structures, on the other hand – whether in fabric, cable, timber, concrete or stone – are nonlinear, long-spanning, flexible, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly. This series shows how, when form follows force as well as function, the result is a structure that soars. …
Apart from the weight, there is nothing lightweight about lightweight structures. With traditional structures, the loads are resisted by the stiffness in the beams, columns, and walls; with tension-only and compression-only structures, the overall form of the structure becomes critical. Get the form right and the structure can span huge distances with minimal material; get the form wrong and you are in trouble.
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