Membrane structures are one sort of spatial structures made of tensioned membranes.The common membranes include fabrics such as PVC

PVC

Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...

 coated polyester

Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...

 fabric, translucent Polyethylene

Polyethylene

Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...

 Fabrics, PVC coated glass fiber fabric and PTFE coated glass fiber fabric; foils like ETFE

ETFE

Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, ETFE, a fluorine based plastic, was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer, and its systematic name is poly. ETFE has a very high melting temperature, excellent chemical, electrical and high energy...

 foil and PVC foil. According to different form-finding methods they can be divide into pneumatic structure, tensile membrane structure, cable dome.In these three kinds of membrane structures membranes work together with cables, columns and other construction members to find a form. There are also some constructions built with membrane, but it doesn't contribute to supporting the framework, such as the Beijing National Stadium

Beijing National Stadium

Beijing National Stadium, also known officially as the National Stadium, or colloquially as the Bird's Nest , is a stadium in Beijing, China. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.-History:...

. In this building the PTFE coated glass fiber fabric and ETFE foil are only filled into the space between large steel structures to build the large roof and facade. Membrane Structures are also referred to as tension fabric building. Another building beside it--Beijing National Aquatics Center--"Water cube" can be seen as one pneumatic membrane structure made of ETFE foil.

Literature

• ETFE, Technology and Design, Annette LeCuyer, Verlag Birkhäuser, ISBN 978-3-7643-8563-7
• Membrane Structures, Hrsg. Klaus-Michael Koch, Verlag Prestel, ISBN 978-3-7913-3049-5