Optimization Form and Grid Gridshell
Search for Efficiency
Structural engineering can be characterized as:
“The art of molding materials we do not really understand into shapes we cannot really analyze, so as to withstand forces we cannot really assess in such a way that the public does not really suspect."
(Brown, E. (1967). Structural Analysis. Michigan: Wiley)
Although the process of structural engineering was once (and may always be) defined as quoted above, in the current field of structural engineering an increase in structural knowledge and advancement of the technical possibilities exists, resulting in a tendency to design structures more and more efficiently.
One of the fields in which this efficiency is sought, is in the relation between the form and structural properties of structural systems, leading towards an increasing interest in lightweight structures. Of this type of structural systems, gridshells are a variant often chosen for their free-form and architecturally expressive design.
Definition Gridshells
A gridshell structure can be compared with a shell structure, the difference being the fact that shell structures consist of a continuous surface while gridshells consist of discrete members connecting nodal points. As these nodal points lie on the surface of an imaginary shell, their shapes function almost identically.
Another difference between shell and gridshell structures can be found in the fact that, due to their free-form and thus, due to the presence of bending forces, gridshells are required to resist loading through their cross-section.
Concluding, a gridshell can be defined as follows:
A gridshell is a form- and cross-section-active, lightweight structure, composed of discrete members connecting nodal points following a curved shape.
Subject Research
As the structural gridshell system is, as yet, not often realized, structural knowledge of this system is limited, preventing the system to be designed as efficiently as possible.
The subject of this graduation project is the development of structural knowledge concerning single layer gridshell structures. More specifically, the goal of this project is the research into, and optimization of the form and grid of a gridshell in relation to the forces working upon the system.
Research Question
The goal of this paper can be defined with the following research question:
“How can the form and grid of a gridshell structure be optimized
to efficiently resist the loading on the system?"
Approach Research
In order to answer the research question stated above, a form-finding study will be performed with the goal of optimizing the structural form and grid-configuration of a gridshell structure, within the restrictions set by the architectural design. Using the findings of this process, a connection detail for the gridshell will be designed and checked for efficiency by means of a case study.
Student: Koos Fritzsche
Commission: A.P.H.W. Habraken / P.M. Teuffel / Luis Weber (Octatube)