Support | Interconnected Cylindrical rod Structural elements |
T
his image is a shot of a section of an elaborate external support configuration clinging to the side of large grain silos. It is holding up chutes, stairs, walkways, and other assorted grain processing paraphernalia. I like its geometric fracturing and complex pattern generation.
In the search for principles of pattern generation in complex systems, a central concept of self-organization has become fashionable. Often applied to biologic entities, I have been thinking about this in relation to man-made artifacts. In mathematical terms, a fractal denotes a shape that is recursively constructed of self-similar elements.
“The relationships between various fracture sets are being examined both for large scale, fold-wide characteristics and for site-specific meter scale propagation and interaction mechanisms.” - David D. Pollard
