An automatic grid generation approach over free-form surface for architectural design

An essential step for the realization of free-form surface structures is to create an efficient structural gird that satisfies not only the architectural aesthetics, but also the structural performance. Employing the main stress trajectories as the representation of force flows on a free-form surface, an automatic grid generation approach is proposed for the architectural design. The algorithm automatically plots the main stress trajectories on a 3D free-form surface, and adopts a modified advancing front meshing technique to generate the structural grid. Based on the proposed algorithm, an automatic grid generator named “St-Surmesh” is developed for the practical architectural design of free-form surface structure. The surface geometry of one of the Sun Valleys in Expo Axis for the Expo Shanghai 2010 is selected as a numerical example for validating the proposed approach. Comparative studies are performed to demonstrate how different structural grids affect the design of a free-form surface structure.