Structural support system for rockwork with mechanical fastening of adjacent chip assemblies

A crimp for mechanically joining rebar for use in a support system for a physical structure, comprising:

• a body with at least two recessed surfaces each configured for receiving one of a first piece of rebar or a second piece of rebar;
• and
• a pair of spaced-apart arms at least partially enclosing an interior space of the body including the at least two recessed surfaces,
• wherein:
• in a first configuration, a first tip of a first arm of the pair of spaced-apart arms at least partially defines a first opening to the interior space and a second tip of a second arm of the pair of spaced-apart arms at least partially defines a second opening to the interior space,
• the first and second pieces of rebar comprise a first set of rebar extending about an exterior border of respective first and second rebar panels,
• each of the first and second rebar panels comprises a second set of rebar arranged in a crisscross pattern to infill a space within the exterior border, and
• the first and second pieces of rebar are positionable so as to be adjacent and parallel.

A method of fabricating an underlying support structure for use in a physical structure, comprising:

• positioning a first rebar panel and a second rebar panel;
• wherein:
• each of the first and second rebar panels comprises a first set of pieces of rebar extending about an exterior border and a second set of pieces of rebar arranged in a crisscross pattern to infill a space within the exterior border, and
• a pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar from the first and second rebar panels are adjacent and parallel;
• and
• positioning a crimp over the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar such that a first piece of rebar of the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar is received in a first recessed surface of a body of the crimp and a second piece of rebar of the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar is received in a second recessed surface of the body of the crimp, and a pair of spaced-apart arms of the crimp at least partially enclose the first piece of rebar and the second piece of rebar;
• and
• applying a deforming force to the crimp to plastically deform the crimp from a first configuration to a second configuration,
• wherein the first configuration is a non-deformed configuration in which tips of the pair of spaced-apart arms define respective first and second openings each having a dimension greater than a dimension of each of the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar, and
• wherein in the second configuration, the dimensions of the first and second openings are less than the dimension of each of the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar.

A crimp for mechanically joining rebar for use in a support system for a physical structure, comprising:

• a body with at least two recessed surfaces each configured for receiving a respective first and second piece of rebar;
• and
• a pair of spaced-apart arms at least partially enclosing an interior space of the body including the at least two recessed surfaces,
• a first tip and a second tip of the respective spaced-apart arms each at least partially defining a respective first opening and a second opening to the interior space, in a first configuration, wherein:
• the first configuration is a non-deformed configuration in which the respective first opening and the second opening have a dimension greater than a dimension of the first and second pieces of rebar,
• upon the application of a deforming force, the body is plastically deformable from the first configuration to a second configuration, and
• in the second configuration, the respective first opening and the second opening have the dimension smaller than the dimension of the first and second pieces of rebar.