3 CONSTRUCTION OF SIMPLE FRPWWS
Following the five construction steps as shown in Figure 4, a simplest FRPWWS can be completed.
First, the outer and inner ring beams on temporary supports are constructed. In general, the outer ring beam is in compression and the inner one is in tension when the web is in place. The outer ring beam is made of reinforced concrete while the inner ring beam is made of steel. The web which is woven with FRP strips is next fixed onto the ring beams with hinge joints and provided with some initial tension to form a plane surface. A tentative hinge joint scheme between the strip and the ring beam is shown in Figure 5, where the strip is tightly clamped between two stiff plates. The weaving of the strips should follow the rules of a specified weaving pattern which should have been designed by the structural engineer and the architect together. Weaving can be carried out easily due to the light weight and small thickness of FRP strips. The temporary supports to the inner ring beam are now withdrawn and the inner ring beam moves in the out-of-plane direction by its self-weight plus an additional weight where necessary. This out-of-plane displacement of the inner ring beam can also be effected by a set of high strength tendons. The installation of these prestressed tendons completes the construction process. According to force decomposition, a small out-of-plane force causes a large in-plane component and enables the web to be tensioned, leading to a web of sufficient stiffness to resist various loads.