- Geodesic domes are structures composed of triangular components that approximate a sphere and provide an enclosed space with minimal surface area. They can be used for houses, churches, arenas, and exhibitions as they are self-supporting without interior columns. - The first geodesic dome was developed in 1919 to support a large planetarium dome. R. Buckminster Fuller independently invented a similar structural system in the 1950s to provide affordable, efficient housing. He received a patent and popularized the dome design. - The department of civil engineering has an open space and wants to build a greenhouse using a geodesic dome structure to beautify the area. Previous domes built on the site with wood deteriorated quickly

1. CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
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1.1 Background study
A geodesic sphere is an arrangement of polygons that approximates a true sphere. A
geodesic dome is a portion of a geodesic sphere. Buildings or roofs have been constructed out of
geodesic domes that range from 5-100% of a sphere. Domes used for houses are usually arrays
of triangles that form three-or five-eighths of a geodesic sphere.
A geometric dome supports itself without needing internal columns or interior load-bearing
walls. This property makes such structures appealing for use as churches, sports arenas,
and exhibition halls. The aesthetic appeal of lofty ceilings makes them attractive as homes, and
full or partial second-story floors are easily suspended halfway up the enclosure without any
support other than attachment to the dome itself.

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1.2 History
In 1919, seeking a way to build a larger planetarium, German engineer Walter Bauersfeld
decided to mount movable projectors within a stationary dome. Until that time, planetarium
domes rotated while external light entered through holes on the dome shell to simulate stars and
planets. This limited the practical size of the dome and the number of people it could hold.
Bauersfeld's concept of interior projection would work in a much larger dome.
Thirty years later, R. Buckminster Fuller, an American architect, engineer, poet, and
philosopher, independently invented a similar structural system. Following World War II, Fuller
wanted to design affordable, efficient housing that could be built quickly from mass-produced
components. Willing to look outside of conventional approaches, Fuller began to work with
spherical shapes because they enclose a given space with a minimum of surface area. He first
framed spheres with a network of strips approximating great circles (circles on a sphere with
centers that coincide with the sphere's center); the strips formed triangles as they crossed one
another. He called the product a geodesic dome because great circles are known as geodesics
(from a Greek word meaning earth dividing). Eventually, Fuller began forming spheres from
hexagons and pentagons and dividing them into triangles for strength and ease of construction.
In 1953, Fuller used his new system to cover the 93-ft (28-m) diameter courtyard
surrounded by Ford Motor Company's headquarters building. The building was not designed to
support the great weight of a traditional dome, but Fuller's creation weighed 95% less. He
completed the design and construction in only three months. A temporary mast erected in the
center of the courtyard supported the dome during construction, and the structure was
incrementally raised and rotated following completion of each new section. The frame consisted
of 12,000 aluminum struts weighing a total of 1,700 kg that were connected to form triangles and
then lifted into position and riveted to the growing frame. When the dome was completed, it was
gently lowered onto mounts that had been installed on the existing building. A clear fiberglass
panel was installed in each triangle to complete the dome.

3. In 1954, Fuller received a patent on geodesic domes. During the 1960s and 1970s, an era
in which unconventionality was prized, geometric domes became popular as an inexpensive way
for environmentally conscious people to build their own homes. Instructions were widely
available, but the quality of materials (including such strange choices as paper mache and
discarded tin cans) and the skill of do-it-yourself builders were inconsistent. Amateur-built
domes tended to leak when it rained, insufficient use of insulation limited their energy efficiency,
and inadequate numbers of skylights left interiors dreary.
Fuller predicted that a million geodesic domes would be built by the mid-1980s, but by
the early 1990s, estimates placed the worldwide number somewhere between 50,000 and
300,000. A small but persistent contingent of unconventional homebuilders continues to build
geodesic dome homes, primarily from kits. However, Newsday reported in 1992 that the majority
of geodesic dome structures have been built for green-houses, storage sheds, defense shelters,
and tourist attractions. One of the most recognizable of these is the 165-ft (48-m) diameter
sphere at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center. Built of composite panels of ethylene plastic and
aluminum in 1982, the structure houses a ride called Spaceship Earth, a termed coined by Fuller
himself.
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1.3 Problem statement
Department of Civil Engineering has an open space that has the potential to be turned
into an interesting landscape area. To overcome this problem, our group decided to build a
greenhouse by using Geodesic Dome as the structure design. A garden can be created in the
garden house to make our department more attractive.
The first geodesic dome built was using wood as the strut and PVC pipe as the hub joint.
The life span for the dome was short because the material used was not suitable to be exposed at
an open space. Example, they used wood as the strut. The wood decayed due to the changes of
weather (raining and sunny).

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1.4 Objectives
The objectives of this research are:
1. To construct a garden house using Geodesic Dome as the structure with 6.5 meter
diameter.
2. To create custom made joint hubs suitable with the geodesic dome design.
3. To construct a gardenhouse using Geodesic Dome design using aluminium as its main
structure.
1.5 Scope of the research
The scopes of research of this research are:
1. Constructing the structure of the geodesic dome by connecting the struts together using
custom-made hub joints.
2. Create a hub joint design suitable with the strut material used.
3. Determination of materials, apparatus and method suitable to construct the geodesic
dome.