Technology: Hybrid Forms of Construction in Structural Planning

Hybrid materials and forms of construction are key technologies today. The upper part of the fuselage of an Airbus A380 consists of glass-fibre-reinforced aluminium (GLARE), for example. This laminated composite material is made up of a series of thin layers of aluminium and glass-fibre-reinforced synthetic. The advantages of the respective materials improve the impact- and flame-resistant behaviour of the fuselage. Above all, though, the GRP that is incorporated reduces the speed with which cracks spread.

Technology: Hybrid Forms of Construction in Structural Planning
Metropol Parasol, Seville, 2011; architects: Jürgen Mayer H.; structural planning: Arup © Frank Kaltenbach