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Khan Shatyr Catenary Cable-Net Tent Structure
72 m inclined tripod tubular steel mast & Ø 110 m catenary radial-hoop cable-net tent canopy supported on a perimeter concrete compression ring wall.
Norman Foster's Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center in Astana is the world's largest tensile tent structure, rising 72 m on an inclined tripod steel mast to enclose a 110 m diameter microclimate under extreme continental weather (−40°C to +40°C). The structural scheme features an inclined three-legged tubular mast that supports a radial array of tensioned steel cables dropping down in catenary curves to a perimeter concrete compression ring beam, holding an ultra-lightweight three-layer ETFE cushion envelope. WebCAE evaluates mast leg compression, cable-net sag under extreme snow, membrane uplift, and vibration mode shapes.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •Geometry: 72 m apex elevation, elliptical footprint Ø 110 m at base, inclined tripod steel mast consisting of 3 legs (Ø 1.8 m) converging at the 72 m apex.
- •Cable-net canopy: 24 radial catenary cables and 6 circumferential hoop cables (Ø 140–160 mm high-strength steel) integrated with 192 MITC4 membrane shell elements (t = 5 mm ETFE composite).
- •Perimeter base ring: concrete ring beam at z = 8 m supported on 24 perimeter anchor columns resisting radial inward tension forces.
- •Discretization: 229 nodes, 405 beam/cable members, 192 shell quads, 1,212 total system DOFs with verified cable-membrane tension compatibility.
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Fixed base supports (all 6 DOFs constrained) at the 3 tripod mast footings and 24 perimeter compression ring columns (z = 0).
- •Extreme continental snow loading and wind suction (-2.0 kPa pressure/suction) acting on the catenary membrane surface.
- •Self-weight of tubular steel framing and tensile cable elements under pretension.
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Maximum vertical static deflection |u| = 136.2 mm in the catenary mid-span cable bays under combined snow and self-weight.
- ✓Fundamental mode frequency f₁ = 0.65 Hz corresponds to synchronous breathing and transverse swaying of the tensile cable net.
- ✓Critical eigenvalue buckling load factor λ₁ = 0.27 reveals sensitive local cable slackening under asymmetric severe snow, highlighting the requirement for tension stiffening.
WebCAE enables tensile architecture specialists to analyze large-span cable-net tents, ETFE structures, and tripod masts, predicting cable tensions, mast buckling loads, and dynamic response in browser-based workflows.
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