A lower connector includes a lower connector hollow body, a pair of lower connector bosses coupled to the lower connector hollow body, and a pair of lower connector arms coupled to the lower connector bosses. A connector assembly includes an upper connector coupled to a lower connector and a gusset plate sandwiched between the upper and lower connectors.

A method includes forming a cutout in a bamboo pole, the cutout having a non-uniform perimeter, and in which the perimeter increases towards a region of the bamboo pole where fibers of the pole are stronger than other regions of the bamboo pole.

The present invention provides a construction set suitable for creating a variety of structures and includes a plurality of elements. A modular construction system includes hubs which are embodied as solid-surfaced hexahedrons having at least one flanged protrusion on at least two faces of each hexahedron. Adjacent structural bodies in the modular construction system may be connected to as few as one face of a hub, or to as many as all six faces, by means of attachable connector elements. The hexahedron at the core of the hub may be of the same or larger dimensions relative to the cross-section of the framing materials (e.g., lumber, tubing, composites, metals, extruded members) it connects.

A geodesic frame connector system for a geodesic frame and method are provided comprising a first discontinuous ring having a first discontinuous ring upper and lower faces, the first ring upper face including an opening extending through the first discontinuous ring, and having inner and outer ring perimeters. A second discontinuous ring is provided having second discontinuous ring upper and lower faces, and inner and outer ring perimeters, and a fastener is provided having a cross section smaller than the opening. When one of the first discontinuous ring lower face and upper face is placed adjacent one of the second discontinuous ring lower face and upper face, insertion of the fastener in the opening of the first discontinuous ring causes the fastener to contact the second discontinuous ring, thereby forcing the second discontinuous ring away from the first discontinuous ring.

A connector assembly, which in one embodiment has an upper connector and in another embodiment has a lower connector. The assembly can have a gusset plate sandwiched between the upper and lower connectors. Also, disclosed is a hoistable connector assembly, a lifting frame assembly, a coupling system for modular frame units, a method for assembling a module unit using the connector assembly, and a modular frame unit and building having the connector assembly. Also, a system for coupling adjacent modular frame units for forming a modular building and a method for coupling modular frame units for forming a modular building are provided.

A prefabricated column assembly includes a hollow tubular column having a longitudinal axis. A gusset plate assembly includes a plurality of gusset plates connected to the column and extending laterally outward from the column in planes generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the column. A first pair of the gusset plates extends laterally outward from the column along a first axis and defines a space for receiving an end portion of a first beam for mounting the first beam on the first pair of gusset plates. A second pair of the gusset plates extends laterally outward from the column along a second axis that is nonparallel and non-coincident with the first axis. The second pair of gusset plates defines a space for receiving an end portion of a second beam for mounting the second beam on the second pair of gusset plates to provide a bi-axial joint connection.

A combined member, comprising a communication rod (1) and a connecting rod (2), wherein the connecting rod (2) comprises a rod body (2.1) and a connector (2.2), the connector (2.2) being a fastening connector (3) or a sleeving connector (4), the rod body (2.1) of the connecting rod (2.1) and a rod body of the communication rod (1) being of a strip-shaped structure, the connecting rod (2) being connected to the communication rod (1) by the fastening connector (3) or the sleeving connector (4), the axis of the connecting rod (2) intersecting that of the communication rod (1) connected thereto. The combined member has the advantages of high bearing capacity, and convenient construction.

A magnetic strut channel fitting includes first and second plates connected to each other and a plurality of magnets embedded into at least one of the first and second plates. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic strut channel fitting includes a substantially flat plate and a plurality of magnets embedded into the plate. According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic strut channel fitting includes a substantially flat connecting plate, first and second arm members, each of the first and second arm members having a vertical plate and a horizontal plate, and a plurality of magnets, the plurality of magnets embedded into the connecting plate to allow the magnetic strut channel fitting to magnetically adhere to a strut channel. The plurality of magnets allow the magnetic strut channel fitting to be magnetically adhered to a strut channel.

A shape-morphing space frame (SMSF) utilizing the linear bistable compliant crank-slider mechanism (LBCCSM). The frame's initial shape is constructed from a single-layer grid of flexures, rigid links and LBCCSMs. The grid is bent into the space frame's initial cylindrical shape, which can morph because of the inclusion of LBCCSMs in its structure. The design parameters include the frame's initial height, its tessellation pattern (including the unit cell bistable elements' placement), its initial diameter, and the resulting desired shape. The method used in placing the unit cell bistable elements considers the principle stress trajectories. Two different examples of shape-morphing space frames are presented herein, each starting from a cylindrical-shell space frame and morphing, one to a hyperbolic-shell space frame and the other to a spherical-shell space frame, both morphing by applying moments, which shear the cylindrical shell, and forces, which change the cylinder's radius using Poisson's effect.

A gusset plate assembly for use in connecting at least two beams to a hollow tubular column in a building. The gusset plate assembly can receive said at least two beams in a biaxial orientation of said beams. The gusset plate assembly comprises gusset plates sized for transferring the weights of said at least two beams and their reaction forces and bending moments from the application of severe load conditions acting on the building to the hollow tubular column. At least one of the gusset plates receives a portion of a second of the gusset plates. A joint penetration groove weld joining the first and second gusset plates together allows the gusset plate assembly to be free of welds on its internal corners. A method of assembling a gusset plate assembly is also disclosed.