Everything You Need to Know About Tensile Fabrics

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Everything You Need to Know About Tensile Fabrics

• Tensile fabric structures are known for their
  strength and durability to withstand aggressive
  climatic circumstances such as wind, rain and
  snow. Simple tent-like shelters which can see
  quite often are made of tensile fabrics. This
  article discusses various types of tensile
  fabrics and their uses.

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Tensile Fabric Structures

• Tents have gone through massive changes since
  their invention. Structure architects have been
  working to make them better by inculcating
  technological progress for creation of all sorts
  of ingenious fabric geometries. As a result,
  tensile structures have become more popular for
  structure fabric because of their durability and
  complexity. Tensile fabric structures can be used
  for roofing, making canopies and relocatable
  pavilions. They can be used to make various
  geometric patterns such as curved surface, spiky
  structures, round profiles, and so on.

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Tensile Fabric Systems

• A tensile fabric structure is installed by
  tensioning of a fabric membrane system with the
  help of wires, cables, poles or other support
  system. The tensioning the fabric straightens out
  the creases in fabric for a more clean
  appearance. However, the tensioning of fabric has
  to be in such a way that it can withstand weather
  conditions and other shocks.

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Shapes

• Tensile fabric structures can be used to create a
  variety of geometric patterns and shapes
  however, they are majorly used to create two
  shapes the saddle, and the cone. The saddle is a
  warped rectangular grid having two high peaks and
  to low points. The cone looks like a volcano, and
  is created using stacked radians or hoops. These
  two shapes can be combined together to create a
  number of variations, such as classical
  architecture.

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Tensile Fabric

• The hard-work of architects along with
  innovations in technology has resulted in a
  variety of tensile fabrics. Each of these fabrics
  has its own benefits and uses.

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Materials

• Tensile fabrics can be broadly categorized into
  two types coated and mesh fabrics.
• Coated tensile fabrics are ideal for external
  use, outdoor structures. They have a base of
  woven cloth fabric with a protective coating on
  it to offer more stability. Mesh fabrics, on the
  other hand, are more suitable for interior
  sun-shading applications. Mesh fabrics are
  another version of coated fabrics. They have a
  coated cloth in their base and there are small
  spaces between the thread bundles.
• Two most common coated tensile fabrics are PVC
  (Poly Vinyl Chloride) coated polyester, and Poly
  Tetra Fluro Ethlene (PTFE) coated glass cloth.

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PVC Fabric Structure

• PVC fabric structure is known for its strength,
  flexibility and affordability. PVC coated
  polyester is ideal for both permanent and
  temporary tensile fabric structures. It is highly
  popular structure fabric because of its
  durability, translucency and low-cost as compared
  to other coated fabrics PTFE and ETFE. To make it
  more durable and climate resistant, the PVC
  coating is applied on polyester using UV
  stabilizers, fire retardant additives, and
  anti-fungicides. PVC fabric structures have a
  great lifespan of more than 20 years. One
  downside of PVC fabric structure is that after a
  certain period of time, the surface becomes hard
  to clean which create some visual inconsistencies
  earlier than 20.

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Downside of PVC

• Although PVC fabric structures are cheap and
  durable, they contain chlorine which is hazardous
  for human health. The chemical additives in PVC
  coating can be harmful for recycling process of
  PVC materials.

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PTFE Coated Glass Cloth

• PTFE coated glass cloth is a more durable tensile
  coating, which offers lifespan of 30 and 50
  years. It is the most popular coating material
  among those who want a longer lifespan and low
  maintenance.
• After manufacturing and fabrication process, PTFE
  has an off-white or slightly brown color. It is
  actively bleached by UV light, which gives it a
  bright white appearance. PTFE is a remarkable
  coating material because it is easy to maintain a
  crisp bright white appearance over the time, and
  the coating also resists the accumulation of
  environmental pollution. Rain is sufficient to
  clean it bright.

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Downside of PTFE

• PTFE coated glass cloth is available in various
  strength ranges. The thicker the coating is, the
  greater tensile strength and lesser is light
  transmission rate. The lighter or thinner fabrics
  have a lesser tensile strength, but greater
  illumination effects.

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ETFE

• ETFE is a simply a coating or film, and not
  really a tensile fabric. It is become widely
  popular because of its feel and it ability to
  replace structural glass. If thermal insulation
  is your priority, or demand of your structure
  then ETFE is ideal structural material.

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Conclusion

• Tensile fabric is a great structural fabric,
  because of its properties and varieties of
  coatings. It can be manufactured in wide range of
  sizes and shapes. At Lantier Tent Structures, we
  offer a wide range of tensile fabrics including
  PVC fabric structure, PTFE structure fabrics and
  ETFA.

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