The team compared how well various traditional and unconventional patterns of stiffening ribs enable a structure to withstand both evenly distributed and asymmetric loads.
The authors to propose an unprecedented rib pattern inspired by dragonfly wings, which surprisingly outperformed every other layout examined in the paper.
Stiffening ribs have been used in vaults and domes since ancient Roman times to enable thinner structures for both engineering and aesthetic reasons. This solution conserves material and allows for more intricate designs, bigger column-free floor spans, and larger windows—like those in Gothic cathedrals.
The use of ribs to distribute the weight of the ceiling is not foreign to civil engineering, either. Some subway stations and industrial facilities offer a vivid example.
"We carefully examined the structure of the dragonfly wing, which does not actually follow the Voronoi pattern exactly, and found that the stiffening ribs in it can be thought of as forming two separate groups. There's the more rigid type that counteracts twisting. And then there are thinner ribs, which ensure the overall structural integrity of the wing. And we thought we could reproduce that in vaults," said Anastasiia Moskaleva, the study's lead author, a Skoltech Ph.D. student from the Mathematics and Mechanics programme.
"Sure, the optimised forms are quite intricate and therefore challenging in manufacture. But after the parts of a standard building, such a parking garage, have been optimised and can be reproduced on demand, it will pay off in the long run due to the material conserved. And then there's the greater creative freedom for the architect."
