Samenvatting

The following report gives a full description of the Bachelor Civil Engineering graduation project. The graduation is done in engineering firm Iv-Consult and the thesis topic is provided by Zwarts & Jansma Architects. Architectural bureau requires a structural solution for the roof of the ice skating rink, which is a part of the sport complex project. The project is on a very concept development and only the dimensions of the building and the main functional requirements are provided. The main idea of the following thesis is to provide the client with the structural design which includes overview of such aspects as architecture, functional requirements and future prospects of the design.
Although, the structural design of the arena roof has to be done, it is not enough to look at the research problem from the structural point of view only. An ice arena has very specific inner-environmental conditions, has to provide safety and comfort of sportsmen and spectators. Moreover, the financial aspect requires solutions which will allow to minimize use of the energy to get correct ice-surface and air conditions. This means that the roof design has to take into account the sustainability aspects and consider the latest developments of the ceiling and cladding design with low-e values.
The minimized material use, together with the smart consideration of the roof future prospects such as constructability, maintainability, and demolition can minimize the life-cycle costs. The roof life-span is 50 years, which means, that the structure has to have the perfect conditions for the entire life-span. In this case, accessibility to the roof surface, water accumulation and cladding type with the same lifespan are the aspects which have to be considered as well.
Another sustainability aspect for the structures nowadays is a post life-span demountability and re-use of the structural elements. This have to be considered at the early design stages, by means of the structural system, used material, sizes of the elements, type of connections, etc. The designed roof is a large-span structure, therefore, not all of the structural systems can be applied. However, there are three general systems, with the use of steel: truss, arch and cable systems. They can be considered in various configurations and give an optimal solution with the above-mentioned functional aspects.
The last but not least, the future ice arena building, is a part of sport venue in the Netherlands. It is a massive construction which will attract attention of the public, possibly including national and international competitions. No need to explain how the visual perception is important. If the structural solution, together with the fulfilled functional and technical requirements, can be also aesthetically appealing, the value of the design will increase significantly.
Four concept studies were developed and the final alternative based on the multi-criteria analysis was chosen. After that, the winning alternative is parametrically developed as a final design of the current thesis project. Grasshopper is used for the geometry development and parametric load, nodes, supports and cross-sections input and linked to the SCIA Engineer. Geometry optimization for the minimized material use is done and final structure is verified for strength, stability and stiffness according Eurocode in SCIA Engineer. Moreover, within Grasshopper Tekla Live-link is used and the final technical drawings with parametric adjustments possibilities are obtained as one of the final products of the project. The conclusion shows that the final design fulfills the consideration of all the requirements for the following research and satisfies the minimum demands of the preliminary structural design.