Adjustable connection systems for reusable plate structures

In the event sector, structures are often left behind after use, ready to be thrown away. This leads to increased waste and CO2 emissions. However, if 75% of structures were reusable, waste production would be up to 3.5 times lower. By designing these temporary structures to be lightweight, modular and reconfigurable, they are more efficient for short-term use and reuse. However, current solutions are difficult to assemble or lack variation to achieve different configurations. When multiple configurations are possible, they usually consist only of beams and do not include walls or provide coverage. Therefore, this research will focus on investigating a lightweight plate-based building system for temporary, reconfigurable and structural applications.

A first step in this process is creating an overview of geometries that are composed of a small range of distinct components. Later, this geometrical system can be translated into a resource efficient plate component and an innovative connection system that allows for the predefined configurations. The geometrical system is based on existing solids that are combined with other mathematical shapes to enlarge the amount of configurations and the range of modularity within each geometry. Furthermore, the number of configurations can be increased by combining the resulting solids to form more elongated or freeform compositions.
To go from the theoretical system to the eventual physical prototype, several case studies are analyzed in regards to potential plate components and connection systems. This analysis is translated into a matrix to compare them in terms of structural strength, minimal material use and their degree of modularity. This matrix then serves as the basis for developing components in regards to the geometrical system. Further research will focus on defining a connection system that allows to obtain a specific range of configurations.