|
|
ACA Engineering Consultants conducted both static and dynamic analyses of the Wimbledon Centre Court Roof to ensure that it would perform properly under real-world loads and stresses. |
| Three years in development, the 17,000-square foot retractable roof is a hydraulically operated structure that includes 10 movable steel trusses that support a translucent, weather-resistant fabric canopy. When open, the roof sections are parked at opposite sides of the court. To close the roof, a coordinated electromechanical system moves the trusses apart and, at the same time, unfolds and stretches out the fabric between the trusses, until the two sections meet in an overlapping seam above the middle of the structure. |
| The engineering team responsible for the roof subcontracted with ACA for design verification of the mechanisms that open and close the trusses. |
| Capita Symonds (roof designer and structural engineering firm) and SCX (project engineer) had constructed two roof trusses for physical testing, but obviously it would be extremely time- and cost-intensive to build a prototype of the entire roof. |
| To perform a virtual analysis, ACA utilised ANSYS software. The verification process was designed to ensure that the mechanisms on each truss would perform as expected. |
| ACA conducted both static and dynamic 3-D analyses of the roof trusses in a virtual environment, confirming that they could withstand real-world physical loads and mechanical stresses in both moving and at-rest positions. ACA focused special attention on the actuators, hydraulic mechanisms between each pair of trusses that are responsible for moving the roof. These actuators are subject to obvious physical forces, such as the weight of the trusses, as well as more subtle forces such as the changing tension of the fabric canopy. A timely and cost-effective verification of the roof design was performed to enable the designers to proceed with construction. |
|
|
|
ACA Engineering Consultants, 4a Main Road, Gedling, Nottingham NG4 3HP
Telephone (+44) 0115 9533931 Email: |
|
