Membrane lightweight structures and their seismic behavior are a case apart from traditional structures and constructions.
Also known as lightweight roofs or ultralight structures, membrane lightweight structures, unlike other types of structures, can have densities as low as 7kg / m2. Unlike steel or concrete structures or roofs, which in their lighter versions are not less than 20 kg / m2 and can weigh up to 180 kg / m2
membrane lightweight structures and their seismic behavior are due, among others, to the low density and weight of membrane lightweight structures as structures, the main factor that allows them excellent behavior in the event of an earthquake.
This since the weight of the roof, based on textile materials, represents a minimum fraction of the weight of the complete system, allowing it to present a better behavior in the event of an earthquake.
The flexibility of the materials used in the membrane lightweight structures is another factor of great importance when it comes to seismic behavior. The more flexible a material, the greater its ability to dissipate energy, and the less prone it will be to failure during an earthquake.
The structural membrane and shade cloth of which the roofs of a membrane lightweight structures tensile structure can be composed are highly flexible textile materials that work entirely under tension, which allows them a great capacity for deformation without damage to the material or the supporting structure.
On the other hand, tensile structures mainly use materials such as steel pipes, bamboo, steel cables and sometimes other types of high-tenacity textile materials, which are characterized by being highly flexible and allowing large deformations before reaching failure points. structural.
Despite the fact that the earthquake structural analysis governs traditional structures, when it comes to Membrane lightweight structures, this analysis is not taken into account (the analysis of winds is the rule in this type of structures) except for conditions of structures with a very high density or cases where it interacts with some other type of structure that is subject to major seismic damage.