STUDY ON MODELING OF STRESS-STRAIN CUERVES OF FABRIC MATERIAL : Fundamental study on stress relaxation of tension membrane structures Part 1

Properties of membrane materials have material nonlinearity and stress relaxation, due to slackness and crimp interchange of yarns and viscoelastic characteristic of coating material. The stability of .tension membrane structures depends on existing prestress in the membrane. Therefore, the stress relaxation is an extremely essential problem for this structure. For the maintenance of the reliable structural efficiency, it is necessary to investigate the membrane behavior under construction and the stress relaxation, and to establish the relaxation analysis. This paper presents the membrane material experiments, which perform to grasp material characteristics under relaxation, and a stress-strain model for the relaxation analysis.