Curved structural envelopes have been popular in architecture in the past decades. Their main limitation is their high cost, which is due in particular to the manufacturing complexity induced by curvature. This article introduces Caravel meshes, a new family of meshes that offers geometrical properties allowing a significant reduction of fabrication complexity. In particular, for gridshells, the most complicated fabrication aspect is usually the connection between the structural elements – beams and panels. In Caravel meshes, all these connections are rationalized. Beams are connected to panels without kinks, beams are connected top each other with repetitive which are also free of geometrical torsion. We show that a great variety of mesh combinatorics is possible with these properties. We study in particular quadrangular and hexagonal patterns. In each case, we estimate the possible shapes using differential geometry. We show that hexagonal Caravel meshes offer a significant design freedom, such that other geometrical properties simplifying fabrication can be obtained, such as edge offsets. Finally, we show that Caravel meshes offer many new ways to design curved structural systems, in which beams and panels may work together mechanically. We highlight one application for the fast prototyping of curved surfaces.

在过去的几十年中，弯曲的结构围护结构在建筑中非常流行。它们的主要限制是它们的高成本，这尤其是由于曲率引起的制造复杂性。本文介绍了Caravel网格，这是一个新的网格系列，具有几何特性，可大大降低制造复杂性。特别是对于栅格壳，最复杂的制造方面通常是结构元素（梁和面板）之间的连接。在Caravel网格中，所有这些连接都是合理的。横梁连接到没有扭结的面板，横梁彼此重复连接，并且没有几何扭曲。我们证明，具有这些特性的网格组合很多种。我们特别研究四边形和六边形图案。在每种情况下，我们都使用微分几何来估计可能的形状。我们证明六角形的Caravel网格具有很大的设计自由度，因此可以获得简化制造的其他几何特性，例如边缘偏移。最后，我们证明了Caravel网格提供了许多设计弯曲结构系统的新方法，其中梁和面板可以机械地协同工作。我们重点介绍了曲面快速原型制作的一种应用。其中梁和面板可以机械地协同工作。我们重点介绍了曲面快速原型制作的一种应用。其中梁和面板可以机械地协同工作。我们重点介绍了曲面快速原型制作的一种应用。