Aerodynamic behaviour of hyperbolic parabolic shaped roofs: wind tunnel test, POD and CFD analysis

The need to cover large areas while maintaining unobstructed interior spaces is a permanent challenge in the design of medium and large span roofs. In line with international trends, a technology already used in the past for this type of application, i.e. tensile structures made with nets of tension cables, is proposed anew. These structures meet the requirements of today’s market in terms of lightness, innovation of materials, cost-effectiveness and lack of intermediate supports. However, tension structures are used rarely in Italy, also due to the lack of clear regulations on the structural design and the determination of environmental stresses on complex shapes such as hyperbolic paraboloids. This research follows two consecutive steps: the first is aimed at developing an optimized procedure of preliminary designs for the cable structure; the second is focused on the study of wind action on these structures. The shape selected for a parameterization leading to an optimized design of this kind of structures is the hyperbolic paraboloid.