Preview

Author(s):	Baker, William F.; Mazurek, Arek; Hartz, Christian
Title:	The design of structural "spider webs"
Abstract:	Dedicated to Prof. Werner Sobek on the occasion of his 65th birthday In 1864, James Clerk Maxwell wrote the remarkable paper “On Reciprocal Figures and Diagrams of Forces.” Maxwell observed that for a frame (what today would be called a truss or a net) to be in equilibrium, it must be the projection of a plane-faced polyhedron. It is now known that this observation is correct, provided the bars of the truss or net and the lines of the external applied forces can be represented by a planar graph. We also know that the plane-faced polyhedron is the Airy stress function. This information can greatly assist a structural designer in creating, adjusting, and analysing structural nets. These nets can be planar structures or the planar projections of three dimensional nets (including spider webs). Simple visual techniques can be used to evaluate how many independent states of self-stress exist and how to adjust the design to achieve goals such as targeted geometries, redundancies or forces. Combined with force-density form finding, this process creates a powerful design tool. This paper will review the theoretical background and applications of the design process.
Source:	Steel Construction 11 (2018), No. 2
Page/s:	118-124
Language of Publication:	English

I would like to buy the article

You can download this article for 25 € as a PDF file (0.2 MB).
The PDF file can be read, printed and saved.
Duplication and forwarding to third parties is not allowed.

Please enter your email address now to start the order process.
The link for the download will be sent to the email address stated after the
order process has been completed.

Your email address

I am an online subscriber

As an online subscriber of the journal "Steel Construction" you can access this article via Wiley Online Library.

I would like to order "Steel Construction"

This article has been published in the journal "Steel Construction". If you would like to learn more about the journal, you can order a free sample copy or find out more information on our website.

Prices include VAT and postage. Prices for 2017/2018.
€ Prices apply to Germany only. Subject to alterations, errors excepted.