Construction and form-finding of a post-formed timber grid-shell

2013 ◽  
pp. 274-281
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Anas Hameed ◽  
Hoda Al-Alwan ◽  
Nazar Oukaili

Contemporary architecture has witnessed a new innovative trend in design characterized by the creation of interesting free-flowing structures that reflect expressiveness of form and design, as well as the uniqueness of structure and approaches of construction. These fascinating structures are often perceived as landmarks that blend harmoniously into their surroundings. In the last two decades, parametric design and advanced computational tools, with prefabrication and construction techniques, enabled architects and engineers to explore new materials and methods to create such impressive structures, breaking the obsolete ways of thinking. Several examples of free-form structures lack obviously to explore architectural potentialities, that enrich the intention of architect, are still unformulated. The main objective of the present paper includes a conceptual proposal exploring the architectural potentiality of the free-form structures, focusing on form-finding possibilities through optimizing both the geometry and the mass of the structure, to generate configurations that ensure self-supported forms with stable force equilibrium. The paper introduces two simplified analytical methods to achieve the efficiency of the free-form architectural structures: the first depends on using extra materials to strengthen surfaces (such as grid shell system), and the second includes changing the geometry to achieve high “strength-to-weight” ratio (such as folding or conical self supports). By applying these methods, it is possible to explore various form-finding possibilities that contribute to the generation of characteristic landmarks with impressive structures.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Grančičová ◽  
Ján Brodniansky

Abstract The paper is basically focused on the process of form finding by the dynamic relaxation method (DRM) with the aid of computational tools that enable us to make many calculations with different inputs. There are many important input values with a significant impact on the course of the calculations and the resulting displacement of a structure. One of these values is Young’s modulus of elasticity. This value has a considerable impact on the final displacement of a grid shell structure and the resulting internal forces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 7165
Author(s):  
Guigang Tu ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
Zaijing Gong ◽  
Yueren Wang

Branching structure is often used as a supporting structure of the grid shell due to its geometrical and force-transferring features, and the rationality of its shape is very important. The “physical” and “numerical” hanging models can be used for the joint form-finding of the branching structure and free-form grid shell. However, slack elements may exist in the equilibrium model which corresponds to the inefficient members in the form-found branching structure. To solve this problem, a form-finding method of branching structure based on dynamic relaxation is proposed in this study. The proposed method clusters the elements of the branching model and equalizes the axial forces of the elements in the same cluster, in other words, there are no slack elements in the equilibrium branching model. This method overcomes the defect that the equilibrium branching model may have slack elements and needs many manual adjustments during the procedure of determining the rational shape of a branching structure, and effectively prevents the inefficient members existing in the form-found structure. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the characteristics of the proposed method and its effectiveness is verified as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Micol Palmieri ◽  
Ilaria Giannetti ◽  
Andrea Micheletti

Abstract This is a conceptual work about the form-finding of a hybrid tensegrity structure. The structure was obtained from the combination of arch-supported membrane systems and diamond-type tensegrity systems. By combining these two types of structures, the resulting system features the “tensile-integrity” property of cables and membrane together with what we call “floating-bending” of the arches, a term which is intended to recall the words “floating-compression” introduced by Kenneth Snelson, the father of tensegrities. Two approaches in the form-finding calculations were followed, the Matlab implementation of a simple model comprising standard constant-stress membrane/cable elements together with the so-called stick-and-spring elements for the arches, and the analysis with the commercial software WinTess, used in conjunction with Rhino and Grasshopper. The case study of a T3 floating-bending tensile-integrity structure was explored, a structure that features a much larger enclosed volume in comparison to conventional tensegrity prisms. The structural design of an outdoor pavilion of 6 m in height was carried out considering ultimate and service limit states. This study shows that floating-bending structures are feasible, opening the way to the introduction of suitable analysis and optimization procedures for this type of structures.


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