Design of Rollable Reciprocal Frame Network

Abstract

In the literature, reciprocal frames have been studied mostly for static structures. Studies on kinetic reciprocal frames are very limited. This study investigates two degrees-of-freedom reciprocal frame fans, and a novel deployable reciprocal frame network is obtained. While the network has a single degree-of-freedom in the cross-section, it has multi degrees-of-freedom in the longitudinal section. The network can be rolled to obtain a compact form and takes the form of a vault form when deployed. The way the nexors come together in the designed network is similar to the Da Vinci Bridge. The only difference is that cylindrical and prismatic joints are used in the intersection points to make the designed network deployable.