After more than a year ForTen 4000 release candidiate is available to registered users for testing purposes.
ForTen 4000 has a huge amount of new features and a lot of improved functions here is a partial list.
Soon documentation and video tutorials will be available for dowload:
Partial Feature List :
Form Finder Modelling
New direct modelling approach. Draw boundary curves and forten create Nurbs surfaces and meshes them automatically.
New Edge Tools: Boundary groups are still availalbe but obsolete. We can add boundary edges automatically and flag them as cable elements or beam elements
Simplified interface for nodes that have now a single restraint set ( 6 dofs )Linear elements have a new property called deformability: FF Deformable = elements follow the FDM formfinder rules, NLD Elements are fixed for the FDM process but deform under large stiffness nonlinear analysis, Fixed = always undeformable
New Cushion tools: Create automatically cushions or cushion grids over nurbs surfaces. Each cushion can have up to 3 layers (Top,Mid,Bottom). Cushion layers can be patterned with a single geodesic or section cut or one at a time
New Rhinoceros import features: Rhino file units can be converted to ForTen units automaticallyImport rhino surfaces as Tenso-Surfaces as supporting frame elements or as cushion gridsNew project to surface command. Any geometric entity can be projected on the tensile surface and become a cutting curve or simply a drawing curve. Drawing curves are then computed automatically over the flat patterns
Improved Opengl visualization
Structural Analysis Module :
Non linear analysis for material and geometry over membrane,cable,beams and shell elements ( steel plates )
Beams can be linear (small deformation) or non-linear (large deformation)
Improved stress plots for cables,beams,membranes and shell elements
Improved Report manager, all data gets exported in xml format and can be viewed by any html browser and easily sent over internet for data sharing
New untis manager,metric and imperial units supported. Model units can be different from plot units and report units. So easily one can work in meteres and Kg and export the analysis results in inch and psi for example
Patterner
Robust patterning methods and exact edge match
New Geodesic curve algoritm robust and efficient with any mesh under hand
Improved Multi cutter
New optimization module : select the pattern width and the module will cut the surface moving the cutter on 2 rail edges keeping constant width
New cutting algortims , cut mesh can be viewed and exported for other analysis or rendering purposes
Project curves like a flower for example and cut eh panels accordingly
DataBase manager
Rewritten profile and material database manager
Profiles can be setup by type and geometry data and the module will calculate area, inertia and shear factors.
Database written in xml format and can viewe/modified outside the module
Under work
We are actually working on the analysis post-process module for steel check against Eurocodes EC3
Registered users can contact us today to download ForTen 4000 rc1 and help us improve it before final release.
contact us today at
to know more
Gerry D'Anza
TSI s.r.l
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RhinoMembrane 1.23 Released
Thursday, 16 April 2009
RhinoMembrane r 1.23 released
Rhino Membrane is a powerful plugin for Rhinoceros able to relax any kind of mesh following the rules of prestressed a membranes and minimal surfaces.
The user has to fix non movable mesh nodes or boundary edges, assign desired pretension with internal pressure (for pneumatic cushions ) and ask for the final result .
Simple and one on of the most powerful form-finding tools available on market.
Developed by Gerry D'Anza & Johannes Linhard with help & support from Prof.Bletzinger over URS theory,
RhinoMembrane gives accurate stress field results.
Download today and give a try, the free trial works for 30 days and limited to 3000 dof's
(degrees of freedom)
New features : Tensegrity and Force Density method implemented
Note: Only registered users will have access to the download
ForTen 3000 V 2.14
Sunday, 09 March 2008
Projects realized with ForTen 2000
Image courtesy by
Baku Group Dt Architects
Contact us today for any question regarding Tensile, membrane & special structures. We offer a wide range of services from software & training to engineering services, design structural analysis and pattern making.
With our partners we also can realize for you the final project with full steel work, membrane and worldwide delivery.
Contact us today for more information
ForTen 3000 (c)
ForTen 3000 is a system for Tensile structure design, analysis and pattern making.
Flexible and powerful has gained success and used today in more than 60 companies, Architects & Engineering firms worldwide.
Rhinoceros is a trademark of Robert McNeel & Associates
Master program for membrane structures
Wednesday, 15 March 2006
Concept of the Master Program
The master program will be a non-consecutive post graduate course, parallel to professional life.
It is established to create a reliable standard of education in the field of textile building. The information of this building method are concentrated , as well as the information about research and development. Safe standards of application can be created worldwide. The aim is to educate architects and engineers to design, bild, erect, calculate and maintain wide span light weight structures.
