A non-contact method for estimating the pre-tension of a rectangular membrane structure

The stiffness of membrane structures widely used in modern buildings is provided by pre-tension, which means that any loss of pre-tension during service life may endanger structural safety and lead to engineering accidents. Therefore, the pre-tension of membrane structures needs to be estimated effectively and a corresponding estimation method is proposed in this study. Firstly, a theoretical model of a rectangular membrane structure is established using the constant deflection contour method (CDCM) to analytically derive a relationship between the pre-tension and the frequency. Then, the pre-tension is calculated using the frequency obtained experimentally by non-contact modal testing using a three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) technique. Furthermore, the estimation method is validated by experimental study. The results show that the proposed method can provide a satisfactory assessment of the pre-tension in rectangular membrane structures and has significant potential to be utilised by industry.