Transverse span airform structure

A transverse span airform membrane, comprising:

• a plurality of transverse spans coupled to one another, wherein at least one of the transverse spans comprises:
• a material having a perimeter defined at least in part by at least one longitudinal edge having opposite ends that terminate at at least one base edge further defining the perimeter, the at least one longitudinal edge comprising a curve, and being configured to couple to a longitudinal edge of an adjacent transverse span of the airform membrane, the at least one base edge at least partially defining a base perimeter of the airform membrane for coupling with a base support structure, and
• a load compensated region with at least one of a length dimension and a width dimension being less than an intended final dimension to compensate for stretch of the material when the airform membrane is inflated, and
• at least one flare region between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge, wherein the at least one longitudinal edge flares outward toward the at least one base edge beginning at an intersection of the at least one longitudinal edge and a boundary between the at least one flare region and the load compensated region, the intersection defining an inflection point at which the curve of the at least one longitudinal edge changes direction, such that the at least one flare region transitions in at least one of the length dimension and the width dimension between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge.

A transverse span airform membrane comprising:

• a plurality of transverse spans coupled to one another, wherein at least one of the transverse spans comprises:
• a material having a perimeter defined at least in part by at least one longitudinal edge having opposite ends that terminate at at least one base edge further defining the perimeter, the at least one longitudinal edge comprising a curve, and being configured to couple to a longitudinal edge of an adjacent transverse span of the airform membrane, the at least one base edge at least partially defining a base perimeter of the airform membrane for coupling with a base support structure;
• a load compensated region having a dimension less than an intended final dimension to compensate for stretch of the material when the airform membrane is inflated;
• and
• a flare region transitioning in the dimension between the load compensated region and the base perimeter, wherein the at least one longitudinal edge flares outward toward the at least one base edge beginning at an intersection of the at least one longitudinal edge and a boundary between the flare region and the load compensated region, the intersection defining an inflection point at which the curve of the at least one longitudinal edge changes direction.

A building structure, comprising:

• a base support structure;
• and
• a transverse span airform membrane coupled to the base support structure and in an inflated configuration, wherein the transverse span airform membrane comprises a plurality of transverse spans, at least one of the transverse spans comprising:
• a material having a perimeter defined at least in part by at least one longitudinal edge having opposite ends that terminate at at least one base edge further defining the perimeter, the at least one longitudinal edge comprising a curve, and being configured to couple to a longitudinal edge of an adjacent transverse span of the airform membrane, the at least one base edge at least partially defining a base perimeter of the airform membrane for coupling with the base support structure, and
• a load compensated region with at least one of a length dimension and a width dimension being less than an intended final dimension to compensate for stretch of the material when the airform membrane is inflated, and
• at least one flare region between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge, wherein the at least one longitudinal edge flares outward toward the at least one base edge beginning at an intersection of the at least one longitudinal edge and a boundary between the at least one flare region and the load compensated region, the intersection defining an inflection point at which the curve of the at least one longitudinal edge changes direction, such that the at least one flare region transitions in at least one of the length dimension and the width dimension between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge.

A method for manufacturing transverse spans for an airform membrane configured to couple to a base support structure to form a building structure, comprising:

• defining an airform membrane having a base perimeter;
• defining a master transverse span based on the airform membrane, the master transverse span having a length dimension and a width dimension;
• defining a plurality of unloaded transverse spans based on the master span, wherein each of the plurality of unloaded transverse spans has at least one base edge based on the base perimeter of the airform membrane;
• defining a plurality of loaded transverse spans based on the plurality of unloaded transverse spans, wherein at least one of the length dimension and the width dimension of the plurality of loaded transverse spans are reduced relative to the plurality of unloaded transverse spans to compensate for stretch of a material of the airform membrane when the airform membrane is inflated;
• defining a load compensated region relative to each of the plurality of loaded transverse spans, which defines a load compensated region for each of a plurality of production transverse spans;
• flaring each of the plurality of loaded transverse spans by transitioning at least one of the length dimension and the width dimension between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge of each of the plurality of unloaded transverse spans, which defines a flare region for each of the plurality of production transverse spans;
• and
• forming each of the plurality of production transverse spans from a material, wherein each of the plurality of production transverse spans includes at least one longitudinal edge having opposite ends that terminate at at least one base edge, wherein the at least one longitudinal edge flares outward toward the at least one base edge beginning at an intersection of the at least one longitudinal edge and a boundary between the at least one flare region and the load compensated region, the at least one longitudinal edge comprising a curve, and being configured to couple to a longitudinal edge of an adjacent transverse span of the airform membrane, the intersection defining an inflection point at which the curve of the at least one longitudinal edge changes direction.

A method for making a building structure, comprising:

• obtaining a transverse span airform membrane having a plurality of transverse spans coupled to one another, wherein at least one of the transverse spans comprises:
• a material having a perimeter defined at least in part by at least one longitudinal edge having opposite ends that terminate at at least one base edge further defining the perimeter, the at least one longitudinal edge comprising a curve, and being configured to couple to a longitudinal edge of an adjacent transverse span of the airform membrane, the at least one base edge at least partially defining a base perimeter of the airform membrane, and
• a load compensated region with at least one of a length dimension and a width dimension reduced from an intended final dimension to compensate for stretch of the material when the airform membrane is inflated, and
• at least one flare region between the load compensated region and the at least one base edge, wherein the at least one longitudinal edge flares outward toward the at least one base edge beginning at an intersection of the at least one longitudinal edge and a boundary between the at least one flare region and the load compensated region, the intersection defining an inflection point at which the curve of the at least one longitudinal edge changes direction, the at least one flare region transitioning in at least one of the length dimension and the width dimension from the load compensated region;
• and
• coupling the base perimeter of the transverse span airform membrane to a base support structure.