Johannesburg 2010 World Cup Stadium Roof and Facade Design

An ambitious remodeling and expansion plan for the stadium was initiated

ABSTRACT

When the FNM stadium in Johannesburg was selected as the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, an ambitious remodeling and expansion plan for the stadium was initiated.

The remodeled stadium which became known as Soccer City or the “Calabash” was to have its facade clad with a mosaic made of, earth and fire colored, light fiber-cement panels. The cantilever roof structure was to be clad with PTFE membranes matching the sand color of the mines found in the stadium neighborhood. Our study involved the virtual simulation of the roof and facade structures for the construction phase of the project on behalf of Cimolai Spa of Italy, the contractor for both the façade and roof.

The study analyzed these structures for strength, service and stability conditions before construction.

The Part played by Numerical Simulation

Numerical models were built to provide a full structural analysis both for the tender configuration as well as for the final “as built configuration” for the roof and façade of the Johannesburg Soccer City Stadium. The study involved:

• a complete finite element model (FEM) for each configuration, with all load conditions including wind tunnel pressure distributions.  Using these models the engineers were able to check out various construction improvements before physically implementing them
• engineering code checks were performed according to DIN18800; to do this an automatic procedure was implemented according to the DIN18800 standard, allowing accidental load distributions (e.g. due to lifting and erection sequence) to be accounted for as required by the designer of the stadium
• plate detail models were created to assess local performance of the main bolted or flanged connections

The many simulations carried out resulted in the efficient handling of the structural verification process, allowing the final “as built configuration” to be frozen at an early stage of the project, which helped Cimolai to complete this complex roof on schedule and go on to win the South Africa 2009 prize for best steel structure.