The document discusses several examples of shell structures: 1) The glass dome structure at the University of Chicago's Mansueto Research Library features a steel grid shell roof enclosing the reading room. 2) The Dunc Grey Velodrome in Sydney uses curved steel purlins and cladding to create its distinctive domed roof shell. 3) The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center employs long curved steel pipes forming a diagrid shell structure for its roof.

1. Athira Nair
Prachi Muchhala
Sagarika C
Soniya Joseph
Tejasvi Nikam

2. Definition: • A shell is a thin structure composed of curved sheets,
so that the curvature plays an important role in the structural
behavior, realizing a spatial form
Motivation: • A shell is the most efficient way of using the material,
and can be very useful in case of uniform loads.

6. Minimalism was the rallying cry at the University of
Chicago’s new Mansueto Research Library.
Chicago-based architecture firm Murphy/Jahn buried
the book stacks—enough for 3.5 million volumes—in
a cavernous subterranean vault and enclosed the
only above-grade level, which houses a reading
room, circulation desk, and book care facility, in a
glass-encased steel grid shell structure.
While the fritted glazing allows ample quantities of
controlled natural light to flood the library during the
day, at night an electrical lighting scheme was
required.

7. Architect Helmut Jahn’s rendering of a cross-section of
the new library building, showing the automated storage
and retrieval system (ASRS) underground and the glass
dome above ground

8. • The elliptical glass dome structure, designed by Helmut
Jahn, has received countless awards since its
completion in 2011.
• It features solar-control glass overhead, a circular base
that supports the foundation walls, and ample interior
space for studying.
• Height of the dome at the highest point: 35 feet
Length of Mansueto: 240 feet
Width of Mansueto: 120 feet
• Number of glass panels on Mansueto’s dome: 691
• Size of each panel: Approximately 2 x 2 meters

9. In a world first, curved Cee purlins manufactured from
steel were used in conjunction with curved structural steel
and steel cladding to create the distinctive domed shell of
the Dunc Grey Velodrome at Sydney.
Curved light steel purlins made from steel create the
Velodrome's distinctive shell-shaped roof structure.
In a world first, pairs of back-to back cold-formed 250mm
deep CEE purlins were used to span the 11 meters from
arch to arch.
"This is the largest and most innovative grid shell structure
ever built in Australia from steel.”
"The roof was assembled by lifting large sections into place
without any props in the middle of the building.”
The shape of the striking form of the roof grew from the
geometry of the shell.
• It is covered by aluminum alloy coated steel roll formed into sheeting in specifically tapered lengths of more than 24 meters.
• Glazed central skylights with light control louvres optimize natural lighting.
• A heat stack running 110 meters along the roof's entire length creates convection to suck out hot air, which is replaced by cooler air entering
underneath spectator seating.

10. Looking north towards the main
entrance. The free span, single-layer,
shell roof floats over the race track
Cross section

12. • The thin shell’s curved geometry is optimized so that the amount of bending and
deflection experienced under non-uniform environmental and seismic loads is
minimized.
• The diagrid shell design has inherent structural redundancy and provides continuous
load paths to transfer both gravity loads and lateral loads to the base.
• The structural design for the roof employs long pieces of 14-in.-diameter, curved,
interlocking steel pipes that form the complex yet efficient structure’s diagrid shell.
• The design was developed to define the arches as a series of compound curves, which
made the steel easier to fabricate.
The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal
Center

15.  Lightweight and flexible
No extra weight on building structure
Adapts to external envelope curved shapes
 Structural strength
Resists pressures exerted by the wind
 • Long-term dimensional stability
Allows unusually shaped blinds that adapt to
complex structural geometry
Gardens by the Bay is a project that has been
awarded not only a Platinum rating in the Green
Mark For Parks scheme (Singaporean equivalent of
LEED), but also a World Building of the Year 2012
award at the World Architecture festival (WAF).
• The biomes are formed of a composite structure of a self-supporting grid shell working in tandem with a superstructure of radial
steel ribs.
• This creates a large, clear-span frame that is as slender as possible to allow the required amounts of daylight to enter the building.
• The grid shell - which, to the shallower slope of the Flower Dome, is thought to be the largest in the world - is constructed from
triangular-section steels to maximize daylight entering the building.
• These standard sections are linked to plate steel nodes, designed in “families” to accommodate the changing geometry of the
building.
• The superstructure of steel ribs is designed to
address the lateral loads to the grid shell, while
also serving the purpose of enhancing the biomes’
organic appearance.
• The two structural systems are mutually
supportive, with the two layers linked by steel
struts