ANSYS Software Verifies Design of Wimbledon Retractable Roof

By DE Editors

ANSYS, Inc.’s  software was used to verify parts of the design of the new retractable roof over Centre Court at Wimbledon. The U.K.-based engineering firm Advanced Computational Analysis (ACA) used software from ANSYS to conduct both static and dynamic analyses of the roof to ensure that it would perform properly under real-world loads and stresses. The roof operated as designed at its debut at the Championships tennis event, held this summer at London’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Image courtesy of ANSYS, Inc.

Five years in development, the 17,000-sq. ft. retractable roof is an electromechanically operated structure that includes 10 movable steel trusses that support a translucent, weather-resistant fabric canopy. When open, the roof sections are “parked” at opposite sides of the court. To close the roof, the coordinated electromechanical system moves the trusses apart and,  at the same time, unfolds and stretches out the fabric between the trusses, until the two sections meet in an overlapping seam above the middle of the structure.

While U.K. construction company Galliford Try was responsible for the overall build of the roof, the project involved many subcontractors. ACA was charged with performing static and dynamic verification of the mechanisms that open and close the trusses.

ACA used software from ANSYS to conduct both static and dynamic 3D analyses of the roof trusses in a virtual environment, confirming that they could withstand real-world physical loads and mechanical stresses in both moving and at-rest positions. ACA focused special attention on the electromechanical actuators between each pair of trusses that are responsible for moving the roof. These actuators are subject to obvious physical forces,  such as the weight of the trusses, as well as more subtle forces such as the changing tension of the fabric canopy.

The new retractable roof made its Championships debut in late June, when rain would have otherwise interrupted a match. As the two roof sections came together, the capacity crowd rose in a standing ovation.

For more information, visit ANSYS.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.