Icosahedral quasiperiodic packing of fibres parallel to fivefold and threefold axes

Building rules are examined for an icosahedral quasiperiodic packing of fibres with axes parallel to the ten threefold axes, first employing an experimental construction and afterwards a mathematical demonstration using the cut-and-project method applied in hyperspace. As a result of this latter approach, very simple two-dimensional (2D) building rules are proposed. Similar simple 2D rules have also been proposed for the case of an icosahedral quasiperiodic packing with fibre axes parallel to the six fivefold axes [Duneau & Audier (1999). Acta Cryst. A55, 746-754]. Finally, the construction of another icosahedral quasiperiodic packing resulting from a combination of two groups of fibres respectively parallel to six fivefold and ten threefold axes is reported. A brief discussion is given on different particular mechanical behaviours which might a priori be expected from the various enantiomorphic properties of these packings.