Structural principles of an asymptotic lamella curtain wall

Abstract

Asymptotic lamella structures are a new lightweight construction system that allows fabrication from straight and flat strips of material that are elastically formed into a doubly curved design geometry. To study the structural potential of asymptotic building facades withstanding wind loads, a full-scale curtain wall prototype was constructed and analysed. Deflection tests with vertical loading and lateral point loading show that the structure is most likely to fail due to the lateral-rotational buckling and compression buckling. An inductive regression method is presented that combines analytical solutions with the finite element simulation to study the structural principles. In this way, the deflection of the structure can be quantitatively divided into bending, torsion and shear deformation under a specific loading condition. Under wind loads, the bending and the torsion deformation take a major part in the resultant deflection, and the structure can be regarded as a curved beam grillage. Finally, several design strategies, including numeric optimization of the profile dimensions, are proposed to improve the structure for future applications.