Computational analysis of hygromorphic self-shaping wood gridshell structures

• Main Authors: Philippe Grönquist, Prijanthy Panchadcharam, Dylan Wood, Achim Menges, Markus Rüggeberg, Falk K. Wittel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2020-07-01
• Series: Royal Society Open Science
• Subjects: self-shaping; hygromorphs; wood bilayer; gridshell; gaussian curvature
• Online Access: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.192210

Bi-layered composites capable of self-shaping are of increasing relevance to science and engineering. They can be made out of anisotropic materials that are responsive to changes in a state variable, e.g. wood, which swells and shrinks by changes in moisture. When extensive bending is desired, such bilayers are usually designed as cross-ply structures. However, the nature of cross-ply laminates tends to prevent changes of the Gaussian curvature so that a plate-like geometry of the composite will be partly restricted from shaping. Therefore, an effective approach for maximizing bending is to keep the composite in a narrow strip configuration so that Gaussian curvature can remain constant during shaping. This represents a fundamental limitation for many applications where self-shaped double-curved structures could be beneficial, e.g. in timber architecture. In this study, we propose to achieve double-curvature by gridshell configurations of narrow self-shaping wood bilayer strips. Using numerical mechanical simulations, we investigate a parametric phase-space of shaping. Our results show that double curvature can be achieved and that the change in Gaussian curvature is dependent on the system’s geometry. Furthermore, we discuss a novel architectural application potential in the form of self-erecting timber gridshells.