Creating temporary bridges or roofs with limited impact on the landscape or architectural context without requiring invasive auxiliary structures is possible with Tensairity. The construction is quick and easy thanks to structural components easily transportable and installable, making the structure particularly suitable for temporary and seasonal uses. For high-tech aerospace applications, the ability to actively adjust pretension allows the structure to adapt its properties according to the operating conditions.
The invention consists of an ultralight structural element of pneumatic type known in the technical field as Tensairity and introduces as new elements, with respect to state of the art, wire ropes with superelastic and shape memory behavior together with a tensioning control apparatus of the ropes. The resulting structure is active and very damped, able to vary the mechanical properties in real time to support dynamic forcing with high performance. The applications belong to civil, industrial and aerospace context: long-span roofs, bridges, aerostats, airships, stratospheric platforms and space habitat.