http://www.archdaily.

com/11602/shell-artechnic-architects/
http://www.ketchum.org/ShellTandF/
Structures, which keep their shape and support loads, even
without a frame, or solid mass material inside, are called shell
structures. These structures use a thin, carefully shaped, outer
layer of material, to provide their strength and rigidity. The
shape of a shell structure spreads forces throughout the whole
structure, which means every part of the structure supports only
a small part of the load, giving it its strength. Examples include:
igloos, egg cartons, turtle shell, food or pop cans, or, even
bubbles in foam and cream puffs.
Shell structures are enclosed and hollow in the middle e.g. a
snail shell or a house.Frame structures are open on the sides
e.g. a tree or the Eiffel tower.
shell structure, In building construction, a thin, curved plate
structure shaped to transmit applied forces by compressive,
tensile, and shear stresses that act in the plane of the surface.
They are usually constructed of concrete reinforced with steel
mesh (see shotcrete). Shell construction began in the 1920s;
the shell emerged as a major long-span concrete structure after
World War II. Thin parabolic shell vaults stiffened with ribs have
been built with spans up to about 300 ft (90 m). More complex
forms of concrete shells have been made, including hyperbolic
paraboloids, or saddle shapes, and intersecting parabolic vaults
less than 0.5 in. (1.25 cm) thick. Pioneering thin-shell designers
include Felix Candelaand Pier Luigi Nervi.
Recent years have seen a renaissance in shell structures. Both through advances in
computation and materials, engineers and architects have been imagining and
creating beautiful thin shell structures. The design and engineering of shell structures
is a highly involved process. Particularly efficient or so-called funicular shell shapes,

that carry their self-weight in pure compression, require a process of form finding.
Their shape depends on the flow of forces and vice versa. The design of shell
structures in general may rely on additional mechanical, technical or architectural
aspects necessitating some form of structural optimization.

. The two types of shells have uses which are altogether

different and the architectural and engineering problems
require a different approach. There are, of course,
borderline cases where it is difficult to distinguish
between the long an short shell.
In structures making use of the short shell, the principle
structural element is the stiffener, usually a reinforced
concrete arch, although steel arches or trusses have
been used. The short shell serves only a minor role,
therefore, the emphasis in this chapter then will be on
the arch shape. Many structures built with short shells,
such a large hangars and auditoriums, could have been
built with little more dead load by using a ribbed slab or
other lightweight concrete framing system rather than
the shell. The architecture of short shells, therefor, must
be based on the exploitation of the shape of the arch
rather than on the shell itself.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF SHORT SHELLS
This sketch illustrates some of the principle parts of a
short shell structure: 1) the shell spanning between
arches, and 2) the arch structure. In this structure, the
edge beams are provided at the lowest point of the shell
and the arch is placed on top of the shell so that forms

may be moved through the barrel. In small structures,

the edge beam can be omitted if the shell is thickened.
The curve of the shell is determined by the proper shape
of the arch and may be a circle for small structures or
may conform to the thrust line of the arch for long span
structures.
The minimum shell thickness should be at the top in the
center of the span. At the arch, the shell thickness is
increased slightly for local stresses. The thickness
increases toward the springing line of the arch and if not
supported by an edge beam, the thickness here should
be based on the thickness for a slab spanning the same
distance. The edge beams act like the folded plate
structures described in the first chapter.

PURE ARCH AND SHELL

The classic simplicity of this structure may be used with
startling effect. There are only two structural elements
and these are clearly expressed so that their function is
evident. Obviously, if the shells are obscured by the
walls necessary to enclose this space, much of the effect
is lost. However, window walls would be in keeping
with the spirit of the design and can be made to follow
the curve of the arch.
If this structure is to be used as a canopy, the obvious
curve of the arch is a ellipse because the arches can
spring almost vertically from the ground and the

slanting member will not be as great a hazard to

people's heads. The curve requiring the least material
would be the thrust line, or funicular curve, for the
loads on the structure. This form would have
considerable curvature at the top but would be
practically straight from the edge of the shell to the
ground. The larger the arch span, the greater the saving
of concrete and reinforcing by the use of a funicular
curve.