Form finding and structural analysis of actively bent timber grid shells

D�Amico, B.; Kermani, A.; Zhang, H.

Abstract

Grid shells are efficient structural systems covering large open spaces with relatively small amount of materials. Also, post forming techniques allow realization of geometrically complex (free-form) shapes by means of standard connection systems. However, due to complexity of the analysis–design process, they are rarely utilized in construction design. In this paper, a ‘facilitating’ numerical framework is introduced in which, for a given continuous reference shape, a geometrically similar discrete model is found by implementation of a six degree of freedom formulation of the Dynamic Relaxation method, to handle members bending and torsional stiffness. A grid cutting pattern algorithm is introduced, as well as methods to numerically simulate the double-layer construction technique and a novel (single-node) cylindrical joint model. The methods are extensively tested and validated on a range of structures, from ‘simple’ single-rod cases to more complex, actively bent, grid shell frameworks.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 16, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Oct 13, 2014
• Publication Date: Dec 15, 2014
• Deposit Date: Oct 21, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 14, 2017
• Print ISSN: 0141-0296
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 81
• Pages: 195-207
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.09.043
• Keywords: Form finding; Grid shell; Timber structure; Active bending; ; Dynamic Relaxation; Cylindrical joint; Velocity Verlet; ; Newton Raphson; Non-linear analysis; Mesh data structure
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/7252
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.09.043
• Contract Date: Oct 21, 2014