Simulating Fabrication Bending of Flat Panels in Grasshopper

[drsteel]

Hi Guys ,

I have planar panels that are fabricated as flat sheets (only straight cuts are possible).
During fabrication, these panels are pre-bent to achieve a curved geometry before installation.

Because of this bending process, the panels do not behave like ideal surface morphing:

• Corners tend to move inward

• Edges are no longer perfectly straight

• Gaps between adjacent panels become irregular

I would like to simulate this pre-bending process in Grasshopper to better approximate the final geometry and panel gaps.

Is there a way (e.g. using Kangaroo or another method) to simulate how a flat panel deforms when bending is applied, possibly by applying forces or curvature constraints?

[maje90 (Riccardo Majewski)]

Attach your geometries.

Do you have the panels AND the global virtual optimal shape which the panels would ideally follow?

Is the bending axis of each panel orthogonal to the panel itself, or can it be of any angle?

I would consider that each panel is fully bent and with a constant curvature. Is this correct?

[drsteel]

Hi Ricardo

I’m trying to bend the flat, straight blue panels to get them as close as possible to the shape of the orange ones. This way, I’ll also be able to see where the corners of the flat panels end up.

Panels_02.3dm (127.0 KB)

[maje90 (Riccardo Majewski)]

@drsteel

… flat sheets (only straight cuts are possible).

That indeed is a problematic limit.

developable straight cuts panels.gh (21.5 KB)

[drsteel]

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I think this is exactly what I was looking for; I’ll check whether the geometry is correct. Thank you very much.