What is a self-supporting structure?

What is a self-supporting structure?

Overview
 A reciprocal frame (RF) is a self-supported three-dimensional structure made up of three or more sloping rods, which form a closed circuit, namely an RF unit. Large RF structures built as complex grillages of one or a few similar RF units have an intrinsic beauty derived from their inherent self-similar and highly symmetric patterns.

Related Article
Reciprocal Frame Structures Made Easy

This article by Peng Song, Chi-Wing Fu, Prashant Goswami, Jianmin Zheng, Niloy J. Mitra, Daniel Cohen-Or, presents a novel computational approach to aid the design of large reciprocal frame structures, or self-supporting structures.


The inner end of each rod rests on and is supported by its adjacent rod. Signified by the word “reciprocal,” which expresses mutual action or relationship, such a closed circuit is obtained as the last rod is placed over the first one in a mutually supporting manner. At the outer end, the rods are given external support by a wall, ring beams, or columns.

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