Trusset System

Phillip Anzalone & Cory Clarke

The Trusset system provides an inexpensive and simple method of manufacturing and building a custom space-truss structure and enclosure. Space-trusses are highly efficient light-weight structural systems that can span long distances and allow for a high degree of flexibility. Typically space-truss structures are difficult and costly to manufacture, and require highly skilled labor on site for assembly. Through the development of a unique structural detail and custom software Trusset space-trusses can easily be manufactured with a simple CNC 2D laser cutter and assembled on-site with unskilled labor and a minimum of equipment. Also the connection details of the system are manufactured from standard sheet material and can be shipped flat to the site - making transport efficient and easy.

Fundamental aspects of costs, digital fabrication, efficiency and ease of assembly were driving ideas behind the development of the Trusset structural system. The system builds on the advantages of the traditional space-truss, modularity and efficiency, and through refinements in detailing and engagement of CNC manufacturing process it surpasses the limitations typically associated with this method of construction, namely that of cost and form.

The system employs a square on square offset geometry, as it is the most commonly used and tested configuration, and exhibits a high degree of material efficiency. The system is a two-way space-truss structure, capable of spanning long distances with minimal material due to networked load sharing throughout the entire system. Due to its global rigidity, the necessity for predetermined support conditions is relaxed, while the depth of the space-truss allows for natural insulation and infrastructure raceways, creating a structure that allows for multiple scales of open space to be enclosed with a single envelope.

The Trusset system is comprised of nodes, rods and panels. The nodes, as they are located at the highest concentration of shear and moment forces, are composed of gusseted, folded steel plates connected with high-tensile bolts. The rods are composed of extruded aluminum profiles, as the span is modest for a typical space-truss, and the loads are primarily axial. The diagonal rods are simple aluminum bars, and the panels can be of a wide variety of materials.

The software component of the Trusset system is designed as two primary modules. The first module operates at the design level, assisting an architect in creating surfaces buildable using the Trusset structural system. The second module performs the practical task of automating the generation of the structural components, including all the rods and nodes Ð as well as the machine code for manufacturing. The division of software modules reflects the process of utilizing the system. The designer uses the primary software module to produce building envelopes; the outcome of this module is a surface that can be input into the second module to generate the structural system and parts inventory used for fabrication.

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