Asymptotic Geodesic Hybrid Timber Gridshell

authored by: Eike Schling, Zongshuai Wan, Hui Wang, Pierluigi D'Acunto
Abstract: This paper presents a strategy to design and build strained timber gridshells from exclusively straight timber planks, which are interwoven and elastically deployed into a doubly curved web. For this purpose, we combine asymptotic (A) and geodesic (G) curves into hybrid AAG-webs on curved surfaces. We present a digital method to design and geometrically optimize the timber AAG-webs to include equal intersection angles and geodesic boundaries. This new construction system benefits from the targeted use of the two differing bending axes of timber planks for flexibility and rigidity. The flat geodesic planks are interlaced at the midpoint of the asymptotic beams to create a tri-hex pattern, which lowers the buckling length and decisively increases the overall stiffness. As a proof of concept, a large-scale timber gridshell covering an area of 60m2 was designed and built. We document the construction process of manufacturing, prefabrication, elastic deformation, on-site assembly, and installation of the polycarbonate cover to verify constructive tolerances and feasibility. The structure is tested and simulated to validate our computational results.
External Organisation(s): The University of Hong Kong
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 97-110
No. of pages: 14
Publication date: 04.10.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Computer Science, General Engineering, General Arts and Humanities, General Social Sciences
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111162683-008 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.15488/17092 (Access: Open)