Lesson plan
Shell (structure)
Building by Eero Saarinen, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York , with a lattice thin-shell roof by Buro Happold with Norman Foster, British Museum, London A shell is a three-dimensional solid structural element whose thickness is very small compared to its other dimensions. It is characterized in structural terms by mid-plane stress which is both coplanar and normal to the surface. A shell can be derived from a plate in two steps: by initially forming the middle surface as a singly or doubly curved surface, then by applying loads which are coplanar to the plate's plane thus generating significant stresses. Materials range from concrete (a concrete shell) to fabric (as in fabric structures). Thin-shell structures (also called plate and shell structures) are lightweight constructions using shell elements. These elements, typically curved, are assembled to make large structures. Typical applications include aircraft fuselages, boat hulls, and the roofs of large buildings.
Article summary
Building by Eero Saarinen, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York , with a lattice thin-shell roof by Buro Happold with Norman Foster, British Museum, London A shell is a three-dimensional solid structural element whose thickness is very small compared to its other dimensions. It is characterized in structural terms by mid-plane stress which is both coplanar and normal to the surface. A shell can be derived from a plate in two steps: by initially forming the middle surface as a singly or doubly curved surface, then by applying loads which are coplanar to the plate's plane thus generating significant stresses. Materials range from concrete (a concrete shell) to fabric (as in fabric structures). Thin-shell structures (also called plate and shell structures) are lightweight constructions using shell elements. These elements, typically curved, are assembled to make large structures. Typical applications include aircraft fuselages, boat hulls, and the roofs of large buildings.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.