SPACE FRAMES

BY

B.N.V.ADITYA (12091AA007)

SPACE FRAMES

DEFINITION
ASPACE FRAMEORSPACE STRUCTUREISATRUSS-LIKE,LIGHTWEIGHTRIGIDSTRUCTURECONSTRUCTEDFROM
INTERLOCKINGSTRUTSINAGEOMETRICPATTERN.
SPACEFRAMESCANBEUSEDTOSPANLARGEAREASWITHFEWINTERIORSUPPORTS .

SPACE FRAME
ATHREEDIMENSIONALSTRUCTURE.
ASSEMBLEDLINEARELEMENTSAREARRANGEDTOTRANSFERTHELOAD.
TAKEAFORMOFAFLATSURFACEORCURVEDSURFACE.
DESIGNEDWITHNOINTERMEDIATECOLUMNSTOCREATELARGEOPENAREA.

HISTORY OF SPACE FRAME

SPACEFRAMESWEREINDEPENDENTLYDEVELOPEDBYALEXANDERGRAHAM
BELLAROUND1900ANDBUCKMINSTERFULLERINTHE1950SBUCKMINSTERFULLER'S
FOCUSWASARCHITECTURALSTRUCTURES;HISWORKHADGREATERINFLUENCE.
ITWASDEVELOPEDINCALIFORNIADURINGTHE1960SANDINTRODUCEDTOTHESOUTH
AFRICANMARKETIN1982,SPECIFICALLYDEVELOPEDFORUNSTABLESOILCONDITIONS,
THEPANELSFORMAMONOLITHICSTRUCTUREOFFERINGSUPERIORWALLSTRENGTHIN
WHICHNOCRACKINGWILLOCCUR

DESIGN METHOD
SPACEFRAMESARETYPICALLYDESIGNEDUSINGARIGIDITYMATRIX.THESPECIAL
CHARACTERISTICOFTHESTIFFNESSMATRIXINANARCHITECTURALSPACEFRAMEIS
THEINDEPENDENCEOFTHEANGULARFACTORS.
IFTHEJOINTSARESUFFICIENTLYRIGID,THEANGULARDEFLECTIONSCANBE
NEGLECTED,SIMPLIFYINGTHECALCULATIONS.

MATERIALS
MANY MATERIALS ARE USED FOR THESE SPACE FRAMES
STEEL
TIMBER
STEEL:

THISSTEELMATERIALWHICHISUSEDFORTHESPACEFRAMESSUSTAIN
MORELOADANDCARRYTONESOFWEIGHT.
THISSTEELISMOSTLYUSEDINNOW-A-DAYSINALONGSPAN
STRUCTURESANDHASTOBEMAINTAINEDPROPERY.
TIMBER:

THISTIMBERMATERIALISALSOUSEDINTHE19thCENTURYANDBY
USINGTHISMATERIALTHEMAINTANIANCELEVELISBECOMINGVERY
HIGH.

DESIGN METHODS

MEMBERSAREFIXEDUSINGCONNECTORS
DIFFERENTTYPESOFCONNECTORSARE:
NODUS CONNECTOR
TRIODETIC CONNECTOR
TUBALL NODE CONNECTOR
HEMISPHERICAL DOME CONNECTOR

LOAD DISTRIBUTION
THESIMPLESTFORMOFSPACEFRAMEISAHORIZONTALSLABOFINTERLOCKINGSQUARE
PYRAMIDSANDTETRAHEDRABUILTFROMALUMINIUMORTUBULARSTEELSTRUTS.

SPACEFRAMESCANBEUSEDTOSPANLARGEAREASWITHFEWINTERIORSUPPORTS.
LIKETHETRUSS,ASPACEFRAMEISSTRONGBECAUSEOFTHEINHERENTRIGIDITYOFTHE
TRIANGLE;FLEXINGLOADS(BENDINGMOMENTS)ARETRANSMITTED
ASTENSIONANDCOMPRESSIONLOADSALONGTHELENGTHOFEACHSTRUT.

STRUCTURAL BACKGROUND
ASPACEFRAMESALONG-SPANNINGTHREE-DIMENSIONALPLATESTRUCTUREBASED
ONTHERIGIDITYOFTHETRIANGLEANDCOMPOSEDOFLINEARELEMENTSSUBJECT
ONLYTOAXIALTENSIONORCOMPRESSION,EVENINTHECASEOFCONNECTIONBY
COMPARATIVELYRIGIDJOINTS,THEINFLUENCEOFBENDINGORTORSIONALMOMENT
ISINSIGNIFICANT.

LIMITATIONS

Aspaceframeorspacestructureisatruss-like,lightweightrigid
structureconstructedfrominterlockingstrutsinageometricpattern.
Spaceframetrusscanbeusedforaplatformoroverheadstructurethat
spanslargedistanceswithoutneedforinternalloadbearingsupport.
Spaceframesareadvantageouscomparedtoothercommonstructures
bytheir;lightweight,massproduction,stiffness,andversatility.
Spaceframesareclassifiedintothreetypesaccordingtothenumberof
gridlayersasfollows;single,double,ortriplelayer.
Spaceframeconnectionscanbemadeby;welding,bolting,or
threading.
Spaceframeconstructionutilizethreemainmethodsoferection;1-
scaffoldmethod,2.blockassemblyMethod,lift-upmethod.

TYPES OF SPACE FRAME

1. Curvature classification
Spaceplanecovers
Barrelvaults
Sphericaldomes

2.Classification by the arrangement of its elements

Singlelayergrid
Doublelayergrid
Triplelayergrid

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CURVATURE CLASSIFICATION
1. SPACE PLANE COVERS:
SPATIALSTRUCTURESCOMPOSEDOFPLANARSUBSTRUCTURES.
DEFLECTIONSINTHEPLANEARECHANNELEDTHROUGHTHEHORIZONTALBARS
ANDTHESHEARFORCESARESUPPORTEDBYTHEDIAGONALS.

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CURVATURE CLASSIFICATION
2.BARREL VAULTS:
HASACROSSSECTIONOFASIMPLEARCH.
USUALLYTHISTYPEOFSPACEFRAMEDOESNOTNEEDTOUSETETRAHEDRAL
MODULESORPYRAMIDSASAPARTOFITSBACKING.

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CURVATURE CLASSIFICATION
3.SPHERICALDOMES:
REQUIRETHEUSEOFTETRAHEDRALMODULESORPYRAMIDSANDADDITIONAL
SUPPORTFROMASKIN.

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CLASSIFICATION BY THE ARRANGMENT OF ITS ELEMENTS
1.SINGLE LAYER GRID:
ALLELEMENTSARELOCATEDONTHESURFACEAPPROXIMATELY.

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CLASSIFICATION BY THE ARRANGMENT OF ITS ELEMENTS

2.DOUBLE LAYER GRID :

COMMONLYUSEDSPACEFRAMESAREDOUBLELAYEREDANDFLAT.
ELEMENTSAREORGANIZEDINTWOPARALLELLAYERSWITHEACHOTHERATA
CERTAINDISTANCEAPART.
EACHOFTHELAYERSFORMALATTICEOFTRIANGLES,SQUARESORHEXAGONSIN
WHICHTHEPROJECTIONOFTHENODESINALAYERMAYOVERLAPORBEDISPLACED
RELATIVETOEACHOTHER.

TYPES OF SPACEFRAME
CLASSIFICATION BY THE ARRANGMENT OF ITS ELEMENTS

3.TRIPLE LAYER GRID :

ELEMENTSAREPLACEDINTHREEPARALLELLAYERS,LINKEDBYTHEDIAGONALS.
THEYAREALMOSTALWAYSFLAT.
PRACTICALLYUSEDFORALARGERSPANBUILDING

TYPES OF TUBES

Circular hollow section

Rectangular hollow section

TYPES OF TUBES
1. Nodus connector:
ITCANACCEPTBOTHRECTANGULARANDCIRCULARHOLLOWSECTIONSANDTHATTHE
CLADDINGCANBEFIXEDDIRECTLYTOTHECHORDS.
CHORDCONNECTORSHAVETOBEWELDEDTOTHEENDSOFTHEHOLLOWMEMBERS
ONSITE.

TYPES OF TUBES

TYPES OF TUBES
1. Triodetic connector:
Consistsofahub,usuallyanaluminiumextrusion,withslotsorkeyways.

TYPES OF TUBES
2. Tuball node connector:
Hollowspheremadeofspheroidalgraphite.
Endofthecircularhollowsectionmembertobeconnectedisfittedatitsendsbywelding
Connectionfrominsidethecupisdoneusingboltandnut.

TYPES OF TUBES

TYPES OF TUBES
3. Hemispherical dome connector:
Usuallyusefordoublelayerdomes.
Hasaspanmorethan40m.
Moreeconomicalforlongspan.
Thejointingisconnectbyslitingtheendofthetubeorrodwiththejointfin.
Twotypesofjoint:pentagonaljointandhexagonaljoint.

ADVANTAGES OF SPACE FRAMES

Light.
Elegant&Economical.
Carryloadbythreedimensionalaction.
HighInherentStiffness.
Easytoconstruct.
SaveConstructionTime&Cost.
Services(suchaslightingandairconditioning)canbeintegratedwithspaceframes.
Offerthearchitectunrestrictedfreedominlocatingsupportsandplanningthe
subdivisionofthecoveredspace.
Durablematerials&protectivefinishes.
Constructionissimple,safeandfast.
NoSitePaintingorWelding.

DISADVANTAGES

Onemajordisadvantageisthattheycanbedifficulttoengineer.
It'snotstraightforwardtodeterminehowforceswilldistribute
throughoutastructurethathasalotofredundantpieces.

SPACE FRAME COMPONENTS

MEMBER
MEMBERS ARE AXIAL
ELEMENTS

WITH

CIRCULAR

OR

RECTANGULAR SECTIONS,
ALL MEMBERS CAN ONLY
RESIST

TENSION

OR

THE SPACE GRID IS BUILT

RELATIVELY

LONG

TENSION MEMBERS AND

MEMBERS. A TREND IS
NOTICEABLE

IN

WHICH THE STRUCTURAL

MEMBERS

ARE

LEFT

EXPOSED AS A PART OF
THE

ARCHITECTURAL

EXPRESSION

CONNECTING JOINTS PLAY

AN IMPORTANTROLE, BOTH
FUNCTIONAL

AND

ESTHETIC, WHICH DERIVES

FROM THEIR RATIONALITY
CONSTRUCTION

ANDAFTERCOMPLETION.
SINCE JOINTS HAVE A
DECISIVE

EFFECT

THESTRENGTH

SHORTCOMPRESSION
VERY

IN A SPACE FRAME,

DURING

COMPRESSION.
OF

JOINTS

STIFFNESS
STRUCTURE

ON
AND

OF

THE
AND

COMPOSE AROUND 20 TO
30PERCENTOFTHETOTAL
WEIGHT, JOINT DESIGN IS
CRITICALTO SPACEFRAME
ECONOMYANDSAFETY.

SPACE FRAME METHOD OF ERECTION

THEMETHODCHOSENFORERECTIONOFASPACEFRAMEDEPENDSON:
ITSBEHAVIOROFLOADTRANSMISSION
CONSTRUCTIONALDETAILS,SOTHATITWILLMEETTHEOVERALL
REQUIREMENTSOFQUALITY,SAFETY,SPEEDOFCONSTRUCTION,AND
ECONOMY
THESCALEOFTHESTRUCTUREBEINGBUILT,THEMETHODOFJOINTING
THEINDIVIDUALELEMENTS,ANDTHESTRENGTHANDRIGIDITYOFTHE
SPACEFRAMEUNTILITSFORMISCLOSEDMUSTALLBECONSIDERED.

HALL OF NATION
PRAGATI MAIDAN

PRAGATI MAIDAN HALL NO-18