Thedesignofareciprocalframeroofisquiteinteresting.

Verylittleinformationisavailable
ontheinternetanditwasnecessaryforustohireanarchitectwhohasdonenumerous
otherdesignstoassistus.Thefollowinginformationisprovidedtogiveyouan
understandingoftheconceptofthereciprocalframestructure.Itwillalsogiveyouanidea
ofsomeofthedesignrequirementsthatmustbemet.
SomeofthisinformationisbasedonarticlesreceivedfromDr.OlgaPopovicoftheSchool
ofArchitectureattheUniversityofNottingham,Nottingham,UK.Inparticularthefollowing
paperisreferenced:
Title:ReciprocalFrame3DimensionalGrillageStructures
Authors:J.C.Chilton,B.S.Choo,O.Popovic
WHATISARECIPROCALFRAME?
Thereciprocalframeisaroofstructurewhereeachbeambothsupportsandissupported
byotherbeamsintheroofstructure.Aminimumof3beamsisrequiredtocreatea
reciprocalframeroof.Aseachbeamsupportsthenextinareciprocalmannernointernal
supportstructureisrequired.Onlytheouterendofeachbeamrequiressupportwhichwill
normallybeapostusedforthewall.Theroofloadsaretransferredtothesepostsandin
turntothesupportingfoundation.Thebeamscanbefabricatedfromtimbers,laminated
wood,steelorreinforcedconcrete.Averyinexpensiveroofstructurecanbemadefrom
logs.

Thereciprocalframeroofresultsinaverystrongselfsupportingstructurewithveryunique
features.

RECIPROCALFRAMEDESIGN
Thisdrawingillustratesareciprocalframedesignedwith3beams.Thefollowing
parametersdefinethestructure:
thenumberofbeams(n)
theradiusthroughtheoutersupports(ro)
theradiusthroughthebeamintersectionpoints(ri)
theverticalrisefromtheoutersupportstothebeamintersectionpoints(H)
theverticalspacingofthecentrelinesofthebeamsattheirintersectionpoints(h2)
thelengthofthebeamsontheslope(L)
Itcanbeseenthattwopolygonsareformed.Theinnerpolygonisformedbythe
intersectionofthebeamsandtheouterbythebeamends.Thenumberofsidestothe
polygonisequaltothenumberofbeamsused.
Theparametersro,riandHarespecifiedasdesignrequirements.Thesearedependent
uponbothstructuralandarchitecturalfactors.Theremainingdefiningparameterscanbe
calculatedasshown.

Sectoranglebetweenthe
beams.
=360/n
Overallplanlengthofbeam.
x=x1+x2
Planlengthtofirstintersection.

x2=2risin(/2)
Planlengthbetween
intersections.
x1={ro2[ricos(/2)]2}x2/2
Risetofirstintersection.
h1=H(x1/x)
Risebetweenintersections.
h2=Hh1
Slopelengthofbeam.
L=(x2+H2)
or
L=(ro2ri2+H2)

Someinterestingobservationscanbemadethatmustbeconsideredduringthedesign
process:
Ifh2islessthanthedepthofthebeamtheupperbeamwillrequirenotchingonthe
bottomtomaintainthebeamspacing.Thiswillweakentheupperbeam.
Ifh2islargetheremaybeaspacebetweenthebeamsandrequireabeamlarger
thannecessarytomeetloadingrequirementsjusttoallowthetwobeamstomeet.
Toavoidexcessivelydeepbeamswhereasmallnumberofbeamsareusedthe
centralopeningshouldbesmall.
ByincreasingthenumberofbeamswhilekeepingHconstantalargercentral
openingispossiblewithbeamsofgivendepth.Thiswillmaintainbeamcontactatthe
intersectionpoint.
Ifthecentralopeningisnotincreasedasthenumberofbeamsareincreaseddeeper

notcheswillberequired.ThisisparticularlythecasewhenHissmall.
Thesearebutafewofthefactorsthataffectthedesignofareciprocalframe.Youcan
easilysetupaspreadsheetthatwouldperformtheabovecalculationsandseetheresults
ofvaryingthedesignparameters.
NOTCHINGTHEBEAM
Inmanycasesitwillbenecessarytonotchthebottomofthebeamssothattheywillfit
properly.Thisnotchiscomplexbothinitsdesignandexecution.Thefollowingsketch
showsatypicalnotch.Thenotchshownattherightdoesnotactuallyexist.Thisshows
howthenextbeamwouldrestuponthebeamshown.

ThefollowingdrawingshowsthedesignofthenotchforthePavilion.Itillustratesthat
considerableeffortisrequiredtodothisoncealltheparametersdiscussedintheprevious
sectionhavebeenestablished.

COVERINGTHEROOF
Typicallythereciprocalframeroofiscoveredwithflattriangularpanels.Thesepanelsare
attachedtothetopofeachbeamandtothesideoftheadjacentbeamuponwhichthefirst
beamrests.Asaresultthepanelsareinclinedandastepisintroducedfromonepanelto
thenext.Theresultingeffectisquitestrikingascanbeseenfromthephotographsinthe
constructionsection.
THEPAVILION
ThePavilionisanoctagonalstructureandthereciprocalframeroofisconstructedusing8
solidwoodbeams3incheswideand11inchesthick.Thediagonaldistancebetweenthe
supportingpostsis16feet.Thepostsare6inchsquarehollowsteelandareboltedtoa
concretefoundation.Hollowsteelisweldedbetweenthepostsnearthetotohelpresist
anytwistingforcesthatthepostsmayexperience.Thiswasrequiredaspartofthis
particulardesign.Thefollowingdrawingillustratesthelayout.

Theroofpanelswereframedwithlumber,sheetedwithplywoodandfinishedwithared
metalroof.AcupolawasbuiltovertheinnerpolygonandcoveredwithPlexiglas.Twoof
thewallswereleftopenandareusedtoenterandexitthePavilion.Thebackthreewalls
thatfacetheedgeoftherockridgearecoveredforsafetyreasons.Adisplaycaseis
mountedoneachofthesewallsandholdbrassplaqueswiththenamesrequestedtobe
displayedbycontributorstothe"BuyaBoard"fundraisingcampaign.Theotherthree
wallsarerelativelyshortwithbenchesmountedontheinsideandoutoftwoandonthe
outsideonlyonthethird.Cedarwasusedforallthisconstruction.