Riccardo La Magna

Zusammenfassung

This research investigated building components that can be produced and transported in a flat state and transformed to a spatial state without scaffolding on-site. Curved folding was employed to allow for a shape change between flat and spatial bending active structures. Bending generally allows for expressive curvature with simple flat production as well as easy customization. Limitations presented by laborious forming and upscaling of individually bent plates were overcome by large-scale curved folding. The present research builds upon the context but adds a design framework for volumetric curved folded components, a bistable behavior, and comprehensive detailing regarding upscaling and increased structural capacity. The mechanism was studied on a kinematic level, considering geometrical rules of curved folding and the design space. It was also studied on a kinetic level under the consideration of material properties specific to plywood. As a proof of concept, a 1:1 scale demonstrator was built. Finite element modeling software was used to optimize the shape. The demonstrator was fabricated flat, folded up, and locked in its stable configuration by the bistability and bases. It supported twelve people with a self-weight of approximately 300kg.

Zusammenfassung

Coreless filament winding is a robotic fabrication technique in which conventional filament winding is modified to reduce the core material to its minimum. This method was showcased and developed through a series of pavilions demonstrating its potential to create lightweight structures. The latest project, Maison Fibre, goes one step further and adapts the fabrication into a hybrid structure combining fibre-polymer composites (FPC) with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) to allow for walkability. The result is the first multi-storey building system fabricated with this novel technique. During the integrative design process of the slab system, the optimum fibre layup was negotiated between the timber support span, load induction, boundary conditions, and material amount required. A total of four iterations of the hybrid component were load tested and compared with the maximum enveloped forces resulting from the global structural simulation. The full-scale load tests were used to calibrate the refined structural simulation of the slab components. The experimental process allowed for material reduction and validated the structural system's capability to withstand the design forces. In addition, the fibre layup was tailored and load adapted for the non-tested wall and slab components of the installation using the test results and achieving further material optimization. This publication describes the integrative design process of the hybrid slab system from initial concepts to the iterative optimization of the structural system, demonstrating its potential for future applications.

Zusammenfassung

This paper presents the development of an actively controlled shape changing surface-like structure, where geometric adaptivity is utilised by local elastic deformation on the component level. Besides the physical development of a proof of concept demonstrator, the research proposes a digital form-driving process, a computational workflow which allows the design and fast simulation of the shape changing structure, as well as the digital control of the actuation on the component level. The proposed material system consists of an initially flat surface, which is tessellated into single components based on a hexagonal grid. Each cell is comprised of a three-layer system, where a pneumatic cushion is placed in the middle of two bending active plates with strategic cut outs 1. In this way, each cell can be pneumatically actuated and therefore elastically deformed. The induced bending in the outer plates leads to a controlled change of area – the cells shrink or expand. By controlling this local behaviour within the global arrangement according to principle geometric rules 2 it is possible to achieve a controlled shape change from an initially flat surface to an anticlastic or synclastic geometric configuration. To design, simulate and control the shape change, the authors propose a digital form driving process. Here, the cells are abstracted and simplified into polygons, which can shrink and expand within a given range, according to the proposed physical system. This allows for the fast simulation of different actuation patterns and resulting geometric changes. The abstract values of shrinkage or expansion of each cell can be translated into pressure values and are used to control the pneumatic actuators in the physical demonstrator (figure 1).

Zusammenfassung

Commonly referred to as bending-active, the term has come to describe a wide variety of systems that employ the large deformation of their constituent components as a primary shape-forming strategy. It is generally impossible to separate the structure from its geometry, and this is even more true for bending-active systems. Placed at the intersection between geometry, design and engineering, the principle objective of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the structural and architectural potential of bending-active systems beyond the established typologies which have been investigated so far. The main focus is set on systems that make use of surface-like elements as principle building blocks, as opposed to previous and existing projects that predominantly employed linear components such as rods and laths. This property places the analysed test cases and developed prototypes within a specific category of bending-active systems known as bending-active plate structures. The first chapters serve as a general introduction to the topic. An overview of relevant recent projects is presented in the introduction, followed by a discussion on the scope of research on bending-active structures. The following chapters lay the theoretical basis in terms of geometry of surfaces and mechanical behaviour of plates. This dual and complementary description serves as the necessary background to understand the limits and potential associated to the deformability of plate elements. The following chapter delves into the first of the two strategies developed as part of this research. Termed form conversion, this approach establishes a one-to-one relationship between the initial base surface and its bending-active counterpart. The chapter proceeds with the presentation of a series of full-scale prototypes that were realised to test the validity of the form conversion approach. Geometrical and mechanical features are discussed in the conclusion of the chapter. The second developed method, named embedded approach, is presented in the next section. This approach takes advantage of the inherent deformation properties of explicitly designed material patterns. The description of the method is followed by the presentation and discussion of the prototypes chosen to test the embedded approach. Finally, the thesis concludes with a critical discussion of the presented methods and a reflection on potential developments for future research.

Zusammenfassung

Aiming to support the current research on bending-active plate structures, this paper discusses the topic of form-finding and form-conversion and presents examples to illustrate the formal and structural potential of these design strategies. Following a short introduction into the topic, the authors reflect on the specific challenges related to the design of bending-active plate structures. While previous research has mainly focussed on a bottom-up approach whereby the plates first were specified as basic building blocks and the global shape of the structure resulted from their interaction, the main emphasis of this paper lies on a possible top-down approach by form-conversion. Here, the design process starts with a given shape and uses surface tiling and selective mesh subdivision to inform the geometrical and structural characteristics of the plates needed to assemble the desired shape. This new concept entails some constraints, and the paper therefore provides an overview of the basic geometries and mechanics that can be created by following this approach. Finally, to better demonstrate the innovative potential of this top-down approach to the design of bending-active plate structures, the authors present two built case studies, each of which is a proof of the concept that pushes the topic of form-conversion in a unique way. While the first one takes advantage of translating a given shape into a self-supporting weave pattern, the second case study gains significant structural stability by translating a given form into a multi-layered plate construction.

Zusammenfassung

In this paper the authors present research into an integrative computational design methodology for the design and robotic implementation of fibre-composite systems. The proposed approach is based on the concurrent and reciprocal integration of biological analysis, material design, structural analysis, and the constraints of robotic filament winding within a coherent computational design process. A particular focus is set on the development of specific tools and solvers for the generation, simulation and optimization of the fibre layout and their feedback into the global morphology of the system. The methodology demonstrates how fibre reinforced composites can be arranged and processed in order to meet the specific requirements of architectural design and building construction. This was further tested through the design and fabrication of a full-scale architectural prototype.

Zusammenfassung

In the current paper the authors present a biomimetic design methodology based on the analysis of the Echinoids (sea urchin and sand dollar) and the transfer of its structural morphology into a built full-scale prototype. In the first part, an efficient wood jointing technique for planar sheets of wood through novel robotically fabricated finger-joints is introduced together with an investigation of the biological principles of plate structures and their mechanical features. Subsequently, the identified structural principles are translated and verified with the aid of a Finite Element Model, as well as a generative design system incorporating the rules and constraints of fabrication. The paper concludes with the presentation of a full-scale biomimetic prototype which integrates these morphological and mechanical principles to achieve an efficient and high-performing lightweight structure.

Zusammenfassung

In the current paper, the authors developed two different numerical methods for fibre reinforced polymers. The first method deals with the simulation of an innovative manufacturing process based on filament winding for glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymers. The second developed numerical method aims at modelling a high level of material complexity and allowing reciprocal confrontation with a geometric differentiated global structure. The developed numerical techniques served as a basis for the design and implementation of a Pavilion built on the campus of the University of Stuttgart in 2012 and could thus be tested and proved.