The RFEM software was used to calculate the largest wooden halls in Asia.

The complex consists of five arc-shaped halls with triangular lattice trusses inspired by Vierendeel beams.

Canadian engineering firm StructureCraft was responsible for the structural design and coordination of the project. StructureCraft engineers used the RFEM software to calculate the structures.

The Tianfu agricultural exhibition halls are part of a major development program for the Chengdu metropolitan area, which aims to compete with other major economic hubs in China. Located on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, where mountains rising up to 5,000 m meet the vast plains of Sichuan, the panoramic views of undulating rice paddies and mountain peaks on the horizon inspired architect Cui Kai in the design of these curved wooden frames.

The result is a unique set of large-span wooden structures, built in a year and a half, through the cooperation of teams based on three different continents. This project fulfills the owners' desire to showcase the economic power of the agricultural region of Chengdu and offer a world-class attraction through innovative engineering and design.

The load-bearing structure of the arched halls consists of triangular truss beams with a maximum span of 110 m and a maximum height of 44 m. The truss members are made of glulam (GL) 24h wood, and the bracings are made of S235 steel.

Glulam purlins are fixed to the lower members of the trusses, supporting the pre-stressed ETFE outer membranes. The forces of the truss members are transferred from the base of the arches to the concrete foundation blocks through steel ferrules. The bracings at the lower members ensure the longitudinal rigidity of the halls.

At the beginning of the project, RFEM was used to calculate the internal forces and moments in the wooden arches and to iterate between different truss configurations.

Different variants of parametric structures could be quickly generated and tested through direct exchanges between Grasshopper and RFEM.

Once the final hybrid system was validated, the RF-TIMBER Pro add-on module was used to verify the wooden truss members according to Eurocode 5. Additionally, the model was refined so that the forces in the RFEM model's connections could be used for detailed verification of connections for steel, wood, and cables.

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