Background to the Science and Policy Report for Tensile Membrane Structures

Nowadays, comprehensive design standards for tensile membrane structures exist neither on European level nor in most European countries on national levels. Currently, the development of a European design standard for membrane structures made from technical textiles and foils is under way. One of the first steps towards a new Eurocode for membrane structures is the preparation of a “Science and Policy Report”, so-called “SaP-Report”. It is published by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The SaP-Report for the structural design of membranes was drafted by CEN/TC 250/WG5 “Membrane structures”, titled “Prospect for European guidance for the Structural Design of Tensile Membrane Structures”. This is an important milestone. The SaP-Report will be the basis of discussions and specifications in the process of creating a new standard throughout the next years. This paper gives background on the meaning, structure and content of the SaP-Report as well as the state of the art regarding the code development.