Smooth cutting pattern generation technique for membrane structures using geodesic line on subplane and spline interpolation

Abstract

Practical techniques for smooth geodesic patterning of membrane structures were investigated. For the geodesic search, adjustment of the subplane of the extracted elements series was proposed, and various spline approximation methods were used to flatten the strip for the generation of a smooth pattern. This search approach is very simple, and the geodesic line could be easily attained by the proposed method without the need for a difficult computation method. Smooth cutting patterning can also be generated by spline approximation without the noise in discrete nodal information. Additionally, the geodesic cutting pattern saved about 21% of the required area for the catenary model due to the reduction of the curvature of the planar pattern seam line.