Post-Tensioned Modular Inflated Structures Romuald Tarczewskil Wroclaw University of Technology romuald.tarczewskiOpwr.wroc.pl Pneumatic structures are usually considered as inalterable,with predeter- mined features,e.g.shape etc.According to this approach,they cannot be easily rebuilt or modified.Application of techniques current in other sectors of construction industry leads to the structures that are much more flexible and adaptable. 1 Introduction The prestressing technique was applied to concrete and steel constructions in first decades of 20th century.It appeared after a period of development of these constructions,and its usage is obvious and common at present.Yet in reference to pneumatic constructions,the conception of prestressing ap- peared at the beginning of their development.The first known documentary evidence of the conception to use structural pneumatic elements comes from engineer Joachim A.Sumovski.He obtained,in 1893,an American patent on air-inflated structures [1].One of the drawings included in patent specification presents the structure that obtains its shape and loading capacity as a result of prestressing,Fig.1. Fig.1.An example of air-inflated structure invented by J.A.Sumovski 221 E.Onate and B.Kroplin (eds.).Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures,221-239. C 2005 Springer.Printed in the Netherlands.Post-Tensioned Modular Inflated Structures Romuald Tarczewski 1 1Wroclaw University of Technology romuald.tarczewski@pwr.wroc.pl Pneumatic structures are usually considered as inalterable, with predeter￾mined features, e.g. shape etc. According to this approach, they cannot be easily rebuilt or modified. Application of techniques current in other sectors of construction industry leads to the structures that are much more flexible and adaptable. 1 Introduction The prestressing technique was applied to concrete and steel constructions in first decades of 20th century. It appeared after a period of development of these constructions, and its usage is obvious and common at present. Yet in reference to pneumatic constructions, the conception of prestressing ap￾peared at the beginning of their development. The first known documentary evidence of the conception to use structural pneumatic elements comes from engineer Joachim A. Sumovski. He obtained, in 1893, an American patent on air-inflated structures [1]. One of the drawings included in patent specification presents the structure that obtains its shape and loading capacity as a result of prestressing, Fig. 1. Fig. 1. An example of air-inflated structure invented by J.A. Sumovski 221 E. Oñate and B. Kröplin (eds.), Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures, 221–239. © 2005 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands