A Novel Dovetail Joining Method for Planar Panels with Non-Orthogonal Cut Surfaces

The development of complex component assemblies from non-orthogonally oriented panels is laborious with currently available methods. The reason for this is the lack of integrated solutions in planning, fabrication and assembly. Thus, applications in architectural design are mostly restricted to geometrically simple, orthogonal shapes. We present a novel dovetail joining method that aims at facilitating the realization of polyhedral structures. Dovetail elements as well as panels may be fabricated using CNC water jet cutting technology. Compared with conventional processes, the presented method adopts the potential of industrial fabrication strategies and by that increases the reliability of respective processes while decreasing cost synchronously.