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Concept
Gyroid
Summary
A gyroid is an infinitely connected triply periodic minimal surface discovered by Alan Schoen in 1970.
It arises naturally in polymer science and biology, as an interface with high surface area.
The gyroid is the unique non-trivial embedded member of the associate family of the Schwarz P and D surfaces.
Its angle of association with respect to the D surface is approximately 38.01°.
The gyroid is similar to the lidinoid.
The gyroid was discovered in 1970 by NASA scientist Alan Schoen.
He calculated the angle of association and gave a convincing demonstration of pictures of intricate plastic models, but did not provide a proof of embeddedness.
Schoen noted that the gyroid contains neither straight lines nor planar symmetries.
Karcher gave a different, more contemporary treatment of the surface in 1989 using conjugate surface construction.
In 1996 Große-Brauckmann and Wohlgemuth proved that it is embedded, and in 1997 Große-Brauckmann provided CMC (constant mean curvature) variants of the gyroid and made further numerical investigations about the volume fractions of the minimal and CMC gyroids.
The gyroid separates space into two oppositely congruent labyrinths of passages. The gyroid has space group I4132 (no. 214). Channels run through the gyroid labyrinths in the (100) and (111) directions; passages emerge at 70.5 degree angles to any given channel as it is traversed, the direction at which they do so gyrating down the channel, giving rise to the name "gyroid". One way to visualize the surface is to picture the "square catenoids" of the P surface (formed by two squares in parallel planes, with a nearly circular waist); rotation about the edges of the square generate the P surface. In the associate family, these square catenoids "open up" (similar to the way the catenoid "opens up" to a helicoid) to form gyrating ribbons, then finally become the Schwarz D surface. For one value of the associate family parameter the gyrating ribbons lie in precisely the locations required to have an embedded surface.
Official source
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