Abstract
Currently available joints used for constructing 3-D lattice space-frames effectively prescribe the geometry of the resulting framework and favour regular, repetitive structural geometric forms; to embrace more general geometric forms requires costly, individually-tailored, joints to be made. This paper describes a new, modular, universal, reconfigurable, joint (MURJ-3D) which has been designed specifically to overcome such problems, and hence to permit the construction of both regular and irregular framework geometries with equal facility. Each MURJ-3D acts as a structural node in any general 3-D space-frame by joining together a large number of lattice members whose longitudinal axes all coincide at a point in space. The exact number of lattice members that can be attached to a single MURJ-3D is not specified, but the capacity of the joint is such that the number of available connections is likely to exceed the maximum number of members required in any given application. The location of the connections is, for all practical purposes, infinitely variable over the surface of a sphere. The MURJ-3D is designed to permit subsequent full reconfiguration of the framework member geometry, including the addition and/or removal of individual members; its application to temporary structures, or those requiring in-situ erection, is particularly germane. The concept presented here is validated using a design, build and test schedule, which clearly demonstrates the general efficacy of the joint.
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