Abstract
Despite the progress achieved in France in accessibility and inclusion of people with reduced mobility and the elderly, bathing areas still remain unreachable in complete autonomy for people with disabilities. This is partly due to the lack of structural solutions, removable and environmentally friendly solutions that can adapt to seasonal conditions of use, to the flexibility related to peak demands and to the requirements of coastal preservation, leaving a national and international market for the moment almost untapped.This thesis work contributes to the development of the technical aspects of the "The sea for all" project, born with the objective of responding to this societal issue by offering lightweight, foldable and modular platform solutions allowing access to the sea for everyone. The solutions developed are based on so-called tensegrity systems, spatial and reticulated structures, self-stressed by a game of balance of tension and compression in their elements.The studies carried out initially focus on mechanical, structural and kinematic analysis, as well as the optimization of support conditions through numerical simulations. Two solutions are explored, the first is a modular bidirectional double-layer grid derived from the “Tensarch” concept and the second is a mono-directional structure with a potential curvature, called “Biquadruplex”.To initiate the realization of prototypes and experimental tests, a significant part of the work relates to the design of the nodes of the supporting structure, as well as the interfaces of the deck plates and the supports. The functionality to be provided by the nodes, in particular the concordance of the efforts, the modularity and good controlling of the folding and deployment mechanisms are all criteria to be considered. 3D printed models allow improving the design before moving to scale 1 prototype.Finally, the demonstrators produced are subjected to laboratory loading tests to confront experimental results with numerical models. In the marine environment, deployment and installation trials are conducted to improve implantation and support system based on anchor screw. An implantation strategy is proposed to choose and optimize the support nodes for any platform made by assembly of elementary modules.