Cyr Wheel Performances: A Custom Modular Circular Stage
We were tasked with designing and building a circular stage for Cyr wheel performances. The stage needed to meet several requirements: it had to have a 6-meter diameter, be easily disassembled into pieces small enough to fit through a 2.6-meter-wide door, support the weight of performers, be quickly assembled by two people (with each panel weighing no more than 50kg), remain flat and level on rough terrain, and withstand the rough handling and moisture typically encountered in circus life.
To achieve these goals, we explored various designs for the circular stage and ultimately settled on a composite panel construction. Each panel was made with an XPS core sandwiched between two layers of extra durable fiberglass, coated with a non-slip surface. The material was shaped using a hot wire cutter with a rectangular profile, and the foam from the mating edges was removed, leaving only the outer fiberglass material. Aluminum extrusions were then pressed into the edges of the panels, providing protection, supporting the edges to prevent deflection, and creating slots for the removable leg structures that connected the panels together.
The leg structures were positioned at the intersection of three panels and consisted of three pieces of steel box section fitted within aluminum U channels, welded at 120-degree intervals to form a three-directional cross. A threaded tube was left at the intersection, into which a bolt or long grub screw with a foot plate on the bottom could be threaded. This allowed for easy adjustment of the legs from above through a small hole in the stage using an allen key bit on an impact driver. The quick and simple assembly process involved extending the legs until they touched the ground to level the stage. Inner steel box sections curved along the outer edges of the panels held the pieces together, and a large ratchet strap was used to wrap around the entire structure and compress the circle inward, pulling all the pieces together.
Overall, the design and construction of the circular stage were challenging yet rewarding. We successfully met all the client's requirements, creating a durable, stable, and easily assembled stage that could withstand the demands of circus performances.