Transformable Active Bending: Elastic deformation as component transformation in transformable structures

In a context of rapid changes, resource depletion and augmenting waste production, transformable structures facilitate reuse on a structural and component level. Increasing the transformational capacity of spatial structures enables speed and ease of erection and lowers the stacking volume during transportation. Thanks to its unique ability to use structural members under different curvatures and return bent elements to their initial straight or planar geometry, active bending has the potential to expand the existing morphology of transformable structures. Therefore, the authors defined ‘transformable active bending’, integrating high bending deformations in the kinematic systems of transformable structures and thus complementing the transformational capacity of the structure with a bending transformation of the components. However, active bending is essentially a structural principle. Therefore we conducted a parameter study to assess the structural behaviour of a bending component under different curvatures. This paper presents the results of this study along with the case of a bent scissor-arch that illustrates the potential applicability of transformable active bending in mobile architectural applications. The study shows that a range of curvatures exists in which active bending components are structurally efficient, thus allowing transformation or reconfiguration. The kinematic concept thus allows application in structural systems, which will be developed in the scope of future research.