Bending-Active Segmented Shells

This paper presents a new structural system that combines the benefits of segmented shells and active bending. Initially planar plate elements are bent only by support displacements and then connected to form shell structures. This advantageous procedure allows building continuous freeform surfaces from single-curved, developable elements with a very simple and economic construction process, while achieving the structural efficiency of a shell. An innovative form finding approach is presented: an explicit variation of the bending stiffness along a segment, allows manipulating its spatial, actively bent shape to closely approximate a designed target shell geometry. The accuracy of this process and the structural behaviour of the shell under external loads and in different scales is discussed.