Software Easy Complete engineering design of lightweight structures. Force equilibrant formfinding. Geometrically non-linear load analysis. Cutting pattern generation. Visualization. Surface is a program that allows you to create your 3D tent membrane shape and then works out the shape of the panels that must be cut out and joined together to form that 3D shape. You can either create the shapes directly in the program using the powerful features that allow you to modify the shape by altering tensions within the membrane and it's supporting ridge, valley and edge cables or if you have already developed the shape in other conventional CAD systems you can make use of the extensive patterning and geodesic panel edge finding features of Surface to create any panel arrangement that you want. (Surface Software). Patterner is a powerful collection of tools for working with 3D surfaces. Patterner is primarily for the design and manufacture of tents and fabric structures. Powerful manipulation and drawing creation tools make it useful for anyone building complex 3D forms from sheet materials. (Rudi Enos Design). Surface Evolver is an interactive program for the modelling of liquid surfaces shaped by various forces and constraints. The program is available free of charge. (Ken Brakke). ForTen is the first commercial software specifically developed to calculate and model tensile and fabric structures. Forten is both a geometrical and mathematical modeler that permits to you to obtain the exact building shape, starting from free form 3D mesh, joint conditions or stress conditions. (Europe Engineering Division).
The Tentnology CAE program provides an easy-to-use solution for design and analysis of tension structures. Operator can generate 3D models of a concept, then apply wind and snow loads to view force, reaction and stress. When satisfied with the results, the user can readily produce cutting patterns for manufacture. (Tentnology). MCM-lite is the hassle-free software that lets you create tensile membrane and cablenet structures without mastering complex engineering principles. The complete engineering version of MCM is also available on a limited basis to professional engineers. This version includes full analysis capabilities - large deflection finite element method analysis. (Birdair). Engineering Pte Ltd provides a suite of programs for design (according to British standards) and analysis of tension structures: WinCable for cable and cablenet design and analysis and WinFabric for tensioned membrane structures design and analysis.
