Free form shells optimized for stiffness under given loading and membranestructures act in a pure membrane state of stresses, either because bendingis minimized or not even present by definition. Physical experiments assoap films and hanging models have been used since centuries to generateoptimal shapes of membranes in tension and shells in compression. The paperpresents numerical methods to simulate the physical experiments as wellas how they can be merged among each other and with the most general technologyof structural optimization. The combined approach represents the combinedpower of each technique. Several examples illustrate the methods and typicalapplications.     «

Free form shells optimized for stiffness under given loading and membranestructures act in a pure membrane state of stresses, either because bendingis minimized or not even present by definition. Physical experiments assoap films and hanging models have been used since centuries to generateoptimal shapes of membranes in tension and shells in compression. The paperpresents numerical methods to simulate the physical experiments as wellas how they can be merged among each other and with the most ge...     »