Geometric Design and Construction of Structurally Stabilized Accordion Shelters

Accordion patterns are widely used for deployable shelters, due to their simple construction, elegant deployment mechanism, and folded plate form with an inherent structural efficiency. This paper proposes two new accordion-type shelters that use modified geometries to improve on the structural stability and stiffness of the typical accordion form. The first shelter is termed a distributed frame accordion shelter and is generated by separating fully folded accordion frames between spacer plates aligned with the transverse direction. A transverse stiffness and increased flexural rigidity can therefore be achieved while maintaining a nonzero floor area. The second shelter is termed a diamond wall accordion shelter and is generated by inserting secondary wall elements that increase wall sectional depth and counteract the coupled rotational-transverse displacements at accordion roof–wall junctions. For both shelter types, a geometric parameterization and a full-scale prototype are presented. Good correlation is seen between the designed and constructed surfaces. A numerical investigation also shows that the new forms have substantially increased flexural rigidities compared to the typical accordion form.