DEPLOYABLE STRUCTURES AS SUPPORTS FOR LIGHT GAUGE STEEL SHELLS

The paper concerns using deployable bar structures as basic parts of structural systems of light gauge steel compound shells. Applying such structural systems should improve the shells assembly because of exploiting: a) planes and nodes appointed by pairs of intersecting bars to set directrices of their individual shells, b) prefabrication of their structural systems. Thus, the main aim of using the deployable bar structure is to get the ends of its bars at the expected nodes after lying it out but not continuity of this structure or constancy of the positions of
the flexible joints on the length of its bars during unfolding/unfolding. Such
a structure has not to let itself fold to a linear shape and unfold to a planar one. The presented issues are a ground for studying a method of shaping light gauge steel shells supported with the changeable bar structures, which allows for creating free and original shell forms. In the paper, the author applies auxiliary, conceive and continue tetrahedral pyramids to get structures, whose general forms approximate spheres. The examined example shows that it is possible to change a type of the auxiliary tetrahedral compositions to get a variety of original shell forms by differentiation of the lengths and divisions of the bars as well as by disconnecting chosen ends of a few bars or using the flexible joints which are able to change their position on the length of chosen bars.

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