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Information about Space Frame

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Simplified space frame roof with the half-octahedron highlighted in blue
A space frame is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames usually utilize a multidirectional span, and are often used to accomplish long spans with few supports. They derive their strength from the inherent rigidity of the triangular frame; flexing loads (bending moments) are transmitted as tension and compression loads along the length of each strut.

Most often their geometry is based on platonic solids. The simplest form is a horizontal slab of interlocking square pyramids built from aluminium or steel tubular struts. In many ways this looks like the horizontal jib of a tower crane repeated many times to make it wider. A stronger purer form is composed of interlocking tetrahedral pyramids in which all the struts have unit length. More technically this is referred to as an isotropic vector matrix or in a single unit width an octet truss. More complex variations change the lengths of the struts to curve the overall structure or may incorporate other geometrical shapes.

Space frames were independently developed by Alexander Graham Bell around 1900 and Buckminster Fuller in the 1950s. Bell's interest was primarily in using them to make rigid frames for nautical and aeronautical engineering although few if any were realised. Buckminster Fuller's focus was architectural structures and has had more lasting influence.

Space frames are an increasingly common architectural technique especially for large roof spans in modernist commercial and industrial buildings.

Notable examples of buildings based on space frames are: Larger portable stages and lighting gantries are also frequently built from space frames and octet trusses.

Tubular space frames are also widely used in the production of modern motorcycles and automobiles (and NASCAR race cars are exclusively built from spaceframe construction), but monocoque car bodies have been more common since the 1950s.

Gallery


Computer Animation of a MERO Space Frame Node.

Looking up through the space frame structure which supports the Air Shard tower at the entrance to Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North.

The space frame roof at Stansted Airport.

A new MERO space frame roof for the Stadium in Al Ain ; UAE. Covered with Membrane. Free span = 110 m.

Spaceframe for a Locost

Ducati Monster


External links

Space frame fabricators

See also

- Superleggera, also called tube-frame, is an automobile construction technology used in classic sports cars from the middle of the 20th Century. The name means "super light" in Italian, and was coined in 1937 by the Italian coachbuilder, Carrozzeria Touring.
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space frame is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames usually utilize a multidirectional span, and are often used to accomplish long spans with few supports.
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In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight slender members whose ends are connected at joints.
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Geometry (Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure) is a part of mathematics concerned with questions of size, shape, and relative position of figures and with properties of space. Geometry is one of the oldest sciences.
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The pattern is a form, template, or model (or, more abstractly, a set of ) which can be used to make or to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are created have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred, in which case the things are
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Load may refer to:
  • Structural load, forces which are applied to a structure
  • Cargo, Freight, or Lading
  • The load of a mutual fund (see Mutual fund fees and expenses)
  • The genetic load of a population
  • The parasite load of an organism

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Principle of Moments redirects here. For the Robert Plant album, see The Principle of Moments. See also Moment (mathematics) for a more abstract concept of moments that evolved from this concept of physics.

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Tension is a reaction force applied by a stretched string (rope or a similar object) on the objects which stretch it. The direction of the force of tension is parallel to the string, towards the string.
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Physical compression is the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress, resulting in reduction of volume. The opposite of compression is tension.

Explanation


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In geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex regular polyhedron. These are the three-dimensional analogs of the convex regular polygons. There are precisely five such figures (shown below). They are unique in that the faces, edges and angles are all congruent.
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pyramid is any three-dimensional structure where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point (apex). The base of pyramids are usually quadrilateral or trilateral (but generally may be of any polygon shape), meaning that a pyramid usually has four or three sides.
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Aluminium (IPA: /ˌæljʊˈmɪniəm/, /ˌæljəˈmɪniəm/) or aluminum (IPA: /əˈluːmɪnəm/
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Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.02% and 1.7 or 2.04% by weight (C:1000–10,8.67Fe), depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese and
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Tube may refer to:

Object
  • cathode ray tube, a common component of electronics such as televisions and other displays
  • cylinder (geometry), a hollow shape
  • inner tube, a component of vehicular tires

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For the academic journal, see Tetrahedron (journal).


A tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra) is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex.
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An octet is a group consisting of eight (8) elements. It has several specific meanings:
  • Octet (music), a musical ensemble consisting of eight instruments.
  • Octet (computing), a group of 8 bits, often referred to as a byte.

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Alexander Graham Bell (3 March 1847 - 2 August 1922) was a Scottish scientist, inventor and innovator. Throughout his early life, Alexander Graham Bell was a British subject but in 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim
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Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor.
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worldwide view.


2nd millennium
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

- -
- The 1950s
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Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment: from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of construction details and,
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Modernism describes a series of reforming cultural movements in art and architecture, music, literature and the applied arts which emerged in the three decades before 1914.
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London Stansted Airport (IATA: STN, ICAO: EGSS) is a large passenger airport with a single runway and hub for a number of major European low-cost airlines.
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Foster and Partners is a leading firm of architects in the United Kingdom. The practice is strongly associated with its founder, Norman Foster, now Lord Foster, and has constructed many high profile glass and steel, high-tech buildings around the world.
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Ieoh Ming Pei (b. April 26, 1917), commonly known by his initials I. M. Pei, is a Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese American architect, known as the last master of high modernist architecture. He works with the abstract form, using stone, concrete, glass, and steel.
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Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architects I. M. Pei and partners. The revolutionary space frame structure was built in 1986 and named for New York Senator Jacob K.
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Louvre Pyramid is a large metal and glass pyramid which serves as the main entrance to the Musée du Louvre and has become a landmark for the city of Paris.

Commissioned by the French president François Mitterrand, it was built in 1989 by the architect I. M.
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Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome,[1] is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. It is home to the American League's Toronto Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.
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Roderick George Robbie, O.C., LL.D., F.R.A.I.C. (born 1928) is a Canadian architect. He is known for his design of the Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 and Toronto's Rogers Centre.
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McCormick Place is an enormous exposition complex located in Chicago, Illinois. Made up of four interconnected buildings, it is the largest convention center in the United States, and the third largest in the world.
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City of Chicago

Flag
Seal
Nickname: "The Windy City", "The Second City", "ChiTown", "Hog Butcher for the World", "City of the Big Shoulders", "The City That Works"
Motto: "Urbs in Horto
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