Form-finding of a grid shell in composite materials

The advantages of the use of glass fiber composites for grid shell are presented. The shape of grid shells results from a post-buckling state of tubes. To bypass the difficulty to predict the geometry of the final equilibrium state, the large rotations which occur during the erection process are modelled using the dynamic relaxation algorithm. This paper proposes an adaptation of this method for structures prestressed by bending through the development of a computer program. It includes the validation of this numerical tool through comparisons with a finite elements software. Then an application to the form-finding of a grid shell and the study of its stability under standard loading conditions will be presented. Finally the authors conclude on the technical and economic feasibility of this composite grid shell.