R-Funicularity of form found shell structures

The study of new design methods targeted to minimize the use of materials is a theme of great relevance nowadays; structural designers pursue structural solutions characterized by efficiency, sustainability and optimization. Funicular systems adopt the “right” shape in accordance with the applied load and are ideally able to act without introducing bending. In this work an effective and easy-to-read method to study and quantify the funicularity is presented and applied to structural shells obtained using form finding, and analyzed under different static loads. In order to formulate the new method, the classical funicularity concept has been extended and the definition of Relaxed Funicularity (R-Funicularity) introduced. The parameter used to define the funicularity is the eccentricity and a structural shell is called R-Funicular when the eccentricity is included into an admissibility interval.