Interface & Cartridge Architecture

A Structural Cartridge is a replaceable or configurable assembly that transfers defined structural actions between a component and the System05 structural platform.

Structural Cartridges may connect:

beams to Nodes;

columns to Nodes;

braces to Nodes;

panels to frames;

floor or roof assemblies to supporting structures;

façades to structural supports;

equipment to structural frames;

temporary supports to permanent structures;

different structural materials through a controlled transition.

A Structural Cartridge shall identify its complete load path. The documentation shall show how force enters the Cartridge, moves through internal plates, shells, keys, pins, fasteners, welds, composite elements, bearing surfaces, or other mechanisms, and exits through the opposite interface.

Every load-transfer element shall be assigned a specific role. Protective shells and decorative enclosures shall not be represented as structural unless their capacity is verified.

The Structural Cartridge declaration shall include:

supported load components;

resistance and stiffness for each axis;

combined-load interaction;

expected deformation;

rotational behavior;

ductility;

fatigue requirements where applicable;

temporary installation capacity;

fire-condition behavior;

preferred failure mode;

residual capacity;

inspection method;

replacement criteria.

The Cartridge may contain material-specific internal geometry while maintaining a standardized external interface. This enables a timber, steel, concrete, aluminum, composite, or future structural member to connect to a compatible Node without requiring the Node to duplicate every material-specific detail.

Structural Cartridges may also serve as replaceable energy-dissipation or damage-control devices. Such Cartridges shall make the intended fuse action explicit and shall be replaceable after a declared demand or inspection result.

No Structural Cartridge shall be released while carrying an uncontrolled load. The design shall define how load is removed, supported, transferred, or bypassed before disconnection.

Structural Cartridge capacity classes and geometries remain TBD and shall be established through reference designs, calculations, testing, and code-specific Engineering Profiles.