Paragen Steel Dome: Developable Geometries

This Research Presents a method to fabricate free-form geometries by dividing them into discreet, developable pieces. The pieces are developable, single-curved and as flat as possible and rational in terms of total number of pieces. The aim is to make any arbitrary free-form manufacturable by 2D low-tech machinery with no need to use CNC/Robotic Folding and also minimizing the residual bending stress in each piece. Two geometrical Algorithms are developed to do so and as an example, have implied on two arbitrary geometries. These Geometrical/Architectural approaches offer advantages like being applicable to Triangular and Quadrilateral Meshes and also suggest a trade-off function that balances the flatness of pieces with number of pieces. The intuitive nature of these approaches amplifies the geometrical perception of the base shape and elaborates its architectural aesthetics. The flatness of pieces and decreased bending stress leads to more axial behavior in structure and therefore the result is a thinner and lighter outcome; This statement was later examined in a real scale pavilion.
Approximation of complex geometries with simpler pieces has always been a topic of interest for architects and computational researchers. Architectural convenience and integrated aesthetics of free form structures is appealing designers. Inherited structural stability combined with conformity to architectural parameters makes these geometries ideal for ambitious architecture purposes. There are number of previous studies in this field such as hexagonal mesh of arbitrary surfaces, Designing shells with quadrilateral elements or different paneling methods for architectural or structural purposes. But this paper seeks an architectural approach that complies simpler tools, can be conducted on any kind of mesh and is able to be optimized in order to control number of the pieces (strips). This research initiates by a given surface that by example is a double-curved minimal surface. This consistent surface, forms the base mesh. This mesh through the path decision algorithm defines the pieces or strips. Note that only developable strips with minimum bending along themselves are acceptable. These strips are nested and coded to prepare cutting planes for fabricating and assembling process.

Info:

Date: Jan. 2015
Location: Tehran, Iran
Held by: AmirKabir (Polytechnic) University of Technology proceedings of Amirkabir Winter School on Computational Geometry
Design and Fabrication: Sina Salimzadeh, Esmaeil Mottaghi, Arman KhalilBeigi
Fabrication Collaborator: Mehrdad Azizkhani
Sponsors: Sabalan Sooleh Ltd., AmirKabir (Polytechnic) University of Technology, Abad Tadbir Ltd.