WELCOME TO THE WEB QL-engineering. Our blog is the channel from which we intend to share our passion and interest in the world of structures. It can find information, among other topics, materials, books, projects, personalities, events and more. In other sections you will hear more about our philosophy of work, projects ... | June 23, 2010, for QL  The proposal submitted by the architects Pedro Colón de Carvajal and Buj Raquel Garcia, the study Buj + Columbus , has been winning the design competition sponsored by the Xunta de Galicia for the rehabilitation of barracks San Fernando Lugo, to make at the Museum of the Roman Galicia. QL, which helped develop the proposal of the contest, participate in the project to develop structural engineering. From a structural point of view stresses the central patio cover, consisting of a parallel set of steel beams whose section acts simultaneously as a tough and sunscreen. The enclosure cover will be done through structural glass panels. The proposal of the competition looked at the main actions to be taken to consolidate and strengthen the existing wooden structure in the present building. May 31, 2010, for QL The tesa band concept was introduced by German engineer Ulrich Finsterwalder, who proposed this type in several large span bridges.  Enzauen gateway. Mr. Jörg Schlaich This structural type behavior based on a set of cables tensioned catenary shaped. On the cables (or embedded in them) provides a thick concrete slab that only very few satisfied, with some additional nuances, the function of supporting the pavement. The result is a thinness that can not be compared to any other structural type ... Continue reading "Bands Tesas. Less is More. " May 24, 2010, for QL Over the next 21 and July 23, 2010 was held in Guimaraes (Portugal) the International Conference on Structures and Architecture, ICSA 2010. QL will be present at the event with a presentation entitled, "Tensile Structures. Interdisciplinary Teamwork as win-win Situation ", to be presented by Iago González Quelle (director of QL) and Erez Amitay, Italian architect with whom we have collaborated on various projects and tenders made with ETFE and textiles.  The article presents various projects in which highlights the importance of mutual collaboration between architects engineers in the early stages of design of tensile structures. The peculiarity of this type of structure, characterized solely by its tensile strength requires the application of structural concepts clearly so as to achieve maximize the aesthetic quality thereof. It also addresses the potential of parametric design when planning the design of some of these structures. The conference comes as a meeting point for those professionals interested in recent advances in the field of structural engineering on projects where architectural and structural values are combined with awareness and reinforce each other.  Pictures of some of the projects presented in the paper. May 14, 2010, for QL The wood is near the stone, one of the oldest building materials in existence. Some noteworthy milestones in the history of this material are the appearance of the plywood in the early twentieth century and the development of wood panels by mid-century. Historically, wood has been used as a flex-resistant floors, tensile (trusses for roofs, etc.). And so much more limited in tablets elements such as pillars. The appearance of the plywood allows greater freedom of form for ease of conducting curved pieces. This type of curved pieces are, however, classical canons of construction with the particularity required prior bending of individual layers during the manufacturing process.  Bodegas Viña (Paine, Chile, architect José Cruz Ovalle) Bodegas Protos (Peñafiel, Spain. Architect Richard Rogers) The development of tensile structures, opened a new field of expression entirely different in the field of wooden structures. Tensile structures, the reverse geometry, operating under compressive stress, with very small bending stresses. This new range opens with the formal project Multihalle Mannheim, developed by Frei Otto in 1975.  Multihalle Mannheim (Architect Frei Otto, 1975) This project is the first approximation to a free-form performed by a wooden structure. Projects have recently been developed based on similar structural concepts such as Weald and Downland Gridshell, designed by ... Continue reading "Wood as a constructive element in unique structures. Trends. " February 1, 2010, for QL On January 28, 2010 began a new series of monographic seminars organized by the Institute of Construction Science Eduardo Torroja, CSIC, on current issues in the field of Construction Technology and its Materials. These seminars are held in the Aula Eduardo Torroja Institute, located in the c / Serrano Galvache 4, Madrid.El this new cycle program is as follows: - January 28. 12:00 h: "Structural design in contemporary architecture." (Alejandro Larena Bernabéu).
- February 11. 12:00 "microclimate in buildings art containers. L Los Angeles musicians Cathedral of Valencia and Ariadne House in Pompeii. " (Fernando J. García-Diego Perez Juande Miralles).
- February 25. 12:00 "Solutions based structural composite materials in civil engineering and building. (M ª Dolores Gómez Pulido).
- March 11. 12:00 h. "historic plaster mortars. Nature and properties. "(David Sanz Arauz).
- March 25. 12:00 "Simulation of materials at the atomic level by theories of first principles." (Javier Sánchez Montero, Pedro de Andres Rodriguez)
More information on the Eduardo Torroja Institute website . January 18, 2010, for QL Shukov Vladimir Grigorievich (1853-1939) was a Russian engineer, perhaps not sufficiently known, pioneered the development of a large number of types and structural systems. Shukov was among the first to develop practical calculations of stresses and strains in beams, plates and membranes. These work with new methods of structural analysis allowed him to be a pioneer in developing the design of a large number of completely innovative structures in their time.  First Double Curvature Mesh Made the World (Nizhy Novgorov 1897) under construction. His early work focused on the petroleum industry, constructing a large number of infrastructures for the ancillary industry. Built from the first oil tanker, to a large number of extraction wells and pipelines with innovative concepts. Apart from the innovations made in the oil industry, saw intense Shukov in the construction of bridges and buildings. In 1892 built its first railroad bridge. In the following years ... Continue reading "Vladimir Shukov." December 23, 2009, for QL One of the fundamental aspects for the successful completion of a project with EFTE is the process of manufacture and assembly. As textile materials such as PVC or PTFE, the ETFE is available in rolls of relatively small width, so that the final geometry of each piece consists of a set of patterns that are assembled by welding.  Proof Mattress Munich Allianz Arena The process of defining geometric set of smaller elements that make up the final piece of ETFE is known as pattern and is particularly ... Continue reading "ETFE (III). Manufacture and Assembly. " December 16, 2009, for QL  As discussed in the post titled ETFE (I), this material has undergone a significant spread in recent years. However, many of the main advantages of this material are still little known to many designers, which may have prevented more widespread use of these materials. Some of the main features of EFTE are: - High durability (+ 25).
- Self-cleaning surface.
- High permeability to ultraviolet rays.
- Light transmission close to 100%.
These characteristics, together with his despicable own weight makes it highly competitive with glass. The permeability to ultraviolet rays also opens a wide range of possibilities ... Continue reading "ETFE (II). Main physical and mechanical properties. " December 10, 2009, for QL This is the first in a series of three posts dedicated to ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene, known as ETFE, a material which has taken a major boom in recent years. Projects such as the Alliance Arena (Munich, Herzog and The Meuron), Eden Project (Cornwell, Nicholas Grimshaw) or the Water Cube (PTW Architects) have contributed significantly to the dissemination of knowledge of ETFE building material.  As we discussed very briefly in a previous post, the ETFE was discovered in 1940, the year in which there is a patent filed by DuPont. In the beginning, this material was used only as an aid in industrial manufacturing processes because of its high resistance to abrasion and wear. However, not marketed until the 70s of last century. Its first applications are focused on the coating of wires and in the chemical industry due to its high stability. In the construction field are also starting to develop ... Continue reading "ETFE (I). Introduction. " December 8, 2009, for QL For those interested in the field of textile architecture, I recommend a visit to the blog Flying The Mast , published by our friend the Israeli architect / Italian Erez Amitay. You can find information, pictures and videos of individual projects made with textiles. The existing categories include the following themes: adaptive architecture, facades and enclosures, parametric design, construction pneumatic and tensile structures.  | |
