Additive Manufacturing of Large Fibre Composite Elements for Building Construction (AddFiberFab)

Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg

01.06.2017 – 31.05.2019

Contextualized within the accelerated expansion of the building sector, at both national and international levels, this research focuses on additive manufacturing processes for high performance, lightweight structures. The main area of investigation is the use of anisotropic fibre composite materials in additive production processes within the building industry, which promises significant material and resource savings.

When applied in the construction sector, additive manufacturing techniques allow for the production of components with individually adapted geometry without any economic disadvantage. The result is an opportunity to construct bespoke load-bearing structures, where materials are used with maximum structural and architectural effectiveness. The use of anisotropic fibre composite materials in additive production processes also allows for a particularly efficient use of material by local adapting the fibre orientation and density in response to the force flow.

A distinctive trait of the investigated winding techniques is the elimination of the winding core, or the winding support structures. This improvement in the winding process is enabled by the use of digital simulation techniques for determining the reciprocal deformation of free-spanning fibres, essentially allowing for the creation of components with high geometric complexity, locally adapted material properties.

The aim of the research project “Additive Manufacturing Methods for Composite Structures in Construction” is to develop the potential of the additive manufacturing of fibre composite components, from a prototypical development stage to a robust, fast and highly automated industrial process, where associated planning and simulation methods contribute to an efficient application in architecture.

Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Prof. A. Menges, Serban Bodea

Institut für Tragkonstruktionen und Konstruktives Entwerfen (ITKE), University of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers, M.Sc. Valentin Koslowski, M.Sc. Bas Rongen

Institut für Textiltechnik, Faserbasierte Werkstoffe und Textilmaschinenbau (ITFT), University of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Götz T. Gresser

SGL CARBON GmbH, Jochen Gast
Hexion Stuttgart GmbH, Johannes Meunier
Kuka Roboter GmbH, Frank Zimmermann
Landesagentur für Leichtbau Baden Württemberg, Dr. Wolfgang Seeliger
Allianz für Faserbasierte Werkstoffe (AFBW), Ulrike Möller
Institut für Textil- und Verfahrenstechnik Denkendorf (ITV), Prof. Dr-Ing. Markus Milwich Institut für Flugzeugbau (IFB) Universität Stuttgart, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Middendorf