Spatial compression-only form finding through subdivision of external force polyhedron

Akbarzadeh M., Van Mele T. and Block P.
Proceedings of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium
Amsterdam
2015

This paper explains a geometric form-finding approach based on subdividing 3D global force diagrams to generate spatial compression-only forms. It is the three-dimensional extension of the two-dimensional methods. The force diagram of a compression-only structural form consists of a (group of) closed, convex polyhedral cell(s). Similar to 2D, the force diagram consists of external and internal components, which respectively represent the global and local equilibrium of the spatial system of forces. This research introduces several subdivision schemes to subdivide the global force polyhedron of the 3D force diagram. This approach allows generating various novel typologies of compression-only, spatial structural form for given boundary conditions. The paper concludes by giving the approach practical relevance by relating the subdivision rules to buckling constraints of the members of the spatial structures being generated.