Shell Elements of Textile Reinforced Concrete Using Fabric Formwork: A Case Study

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Innovations in formwork solutions create new possibilities for architectural concrete constructions. Flexible fabric replaces the stiff traditional formwork elements, and takes away a limiting factor for creative designs. Combined with textile reinforcement, the production of a new range of curved and organic shapes becomes possible without the intensive labour for formwork installation. Besides a general introduction about the concepts of fabric formwork and textile reinforcement, this paper focuses on the production and structural evaluation of doubly curved shells. Creating a very interesting type of element from a structural point of view, the shape flexibility of both the fabric formwork and textile reinforcement make a perfect match to overcome practical production issues for thin shell elements. The application of shotcrete and the integration of non-metallic reinforcement allowed first of all the production of very thin concrete shell elements based on the design approach of the textile architecture. Comparing a shell structure with traditional reinforcement and one with textile reinforcement, a case study evaluates furthermore both the design and the structural performance of such a shell structure.