VULCAN: Closing the Loop in 3D-Printed Architectural Design

2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Xu
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Caitlin Bruce

<p>New Zealand is ranked among the top nations in waste production, including a million tonnes of plastic waste. Currently, there are methods for recycling plastic within New Zealand but these methods can be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in most of the plastic being thrown into the landfill. Because plastic does not fully degrade, it ends up in the ocean and other waterways, poisoning the water with toxins. The purpose of this research is to provide a solution to reducing plastic waste by creating an alternative method of recycling that utilises new technologies such as additive manufacturing, to create a building material that fits into the concept of the circular economy. The findings of this research explored the recycling of plastic by collecting plastic waste such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) from old 3D printed models. The plastic was recycled into filament for additive manufacturing (AM) and used to print building tile, establishing an initial proof of concept for the use of recycled plastic as a potential building material.</p>


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 254
Author(s):  
Rodrigo García-Alvarado ◽  
Ginnia Moroni-Orellana ◽  
Pablo Banda-Pérez

3D-printed constructions express the capacity of automated technologies to elaborate buildings through additive manufacturing. These constructions require an architectural design according to their manufacturing conditions. This research reviews buildings that have been executed with these technologies in order to determine architectural characteristics. From an Internet search, a register was compiled of 112 cases of 3D-printed constructions around the globe. They include some 10,000 m2 of built surface area and were mainly erected in the last five years. The review shows that cases were built by approximately thirty executors, mostly entrepreneurs’ companies who have made different buildings as single-family dwellings constructed with gantries or robotic arms, either on-site or in factories. Most of the components printed are walls, with single or double filaments with interior voids. In some cases, they integrate reinforcements and openings. The geometry of the 3D-printed constructions varies between orthogonal layouts that replicate existing buildings and spherical shapes that reflect printing capabilities. Many of the cases are a combination of these characteristics, mixing a technological adaptation to existing architecture and new operative conditions. This review reveals the emerging development of this construction system with the progressive consolidation of some architectural attributes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Caitlin Bruce

<p>New Zealand is ranked among the top nations in waste production, including a million tonnes of plastic waste. Currently, there are methods for recycling plastic within New Zealand but these methods can be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in most of the plastic being thrown into the landfill. Because plastic does not fully degrade, it ends up in the ocean and other waterways, poisoning the water with toxins. The purpose of this research is to provide a solution to reducing plastic waste by creating an alternative method of recycling that utilises new technologies such as additive manufacturing, to create a building material that fits into the concept of the circular economy. The findings of this research explored the recycling of plastic by collecting plastic waste such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) from old 3D printed models. The plastic was recycled into filament for additive manufacturing (AM) and used to print building tile, establishing an initial proof of concept for the use of recycled plastic as a potential building material.</p>


Author(s):  
Jochen Mueller ◽  
Shi En Kim ◽  
Kristina Shea ◽  
Chiara Daraio

To design and optimize for capabilities of additive manufacturing processes it is also necessary to understand and model their variations in geometric and mechanical properties. In this paper, such variations of inkjet 3D printed parts are systematically investigated by analyzing parameters of the whole process, i.e. storage of the material, printing, testing, and storage of finished parts. The goal is to both understand the process and determine the parameters that lead to the best mechanical properties and the most accurate geometric properties. Using models based on this understanding, we can design and optimize parts, and fabricate and test them successfully, thus closing the loop. Since AM materials change rapidly and this process will have to be repeated, it is shown how to create a cost and time efficient experimental design with the one-factor-at-a-time and design of experiments methods, yielding high statistical accuracies for both main and interaction effects. The results show that the number of intersections between layers and nozzles along the load-direction has the strongest impact on the mechanical properties followed by the UV exposure time, which is investigated by part spacing, the position on the printing table and the expiry date of the material. Minor effects are found for the storage time and the surface roughness is not affected by any factor. Nozzle blockage, which leads to a smaller flow-rate of printing material, significantly affected the width and waviness of the printed product. Furthermore, the machine’s warm-up time is found to be an important factor.


Author(s):  
Steinar Hillersøy Dyvik ◽  
Marcin Luczkowski ◽  
John Haddal Mork ◽  
Anders Nils Rønnquist ◽  
Bendik Manum

<p>Freeform structures can provide both aesthetically interesting and material efficient solutions but are considered a demanding task for both structural design, manufacturing and architectural design. A free form surface is therefore rationalized into something more buildable like the gridshell. However, a digital design process with freeform geometry can be a complex and confusing task. By defining a gridshell as <i>nodes</i>(joints) and <i>elements</i>(members), we can set up a parametric workflow that handles the complexity in design and analysis. Optimization and rationalization of shape, topology, and cross-section are studied real-time, giving the designer confidence and design- freedom. This paper explains a parametric workflow for designing freeform gridshells. Through the design and construction of a timber gridshell pavilion with 3D printed nylon nodes, we discovered important elements of the parametric design process of freeform gridshells.</p>


Author(s):  
Alessandra Carlini

AbstractThis document presents the results of architectural design and prototyping of educational kits within the museum context, two case studies featuring a combination of digital technologies and unplugged processes. The field of application is cultural heritage and the topics are part of school curricula. The first case study is a museum display of digital video installations and educational kits that reproduce mechanisms of symmetry from patterned flooring (“www.formulas.it” laboratory, Department of Architecture, Roma Tre University and Liceo Scientifico Cavour” high school). The second case concerns the setting up of a school fab lab in which 3D-printed prototype educational kits are made for schools and museums in Rome, in partnership with the Municipality of Rome and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (General Directorate for Education and Research). The cases involve professional, research and didactic experiences which led to funding-supported projects. The experiences showcase good practices in informal and cooperative learning, and highlight the relationship between education and popularization that draws on our architectural heritage.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1801353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Entezari ◽  
Iman Roohani ◽  
Guanglong Li ◽  
Colin R. Dunstan ◽  
Pierre Rognon ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (27) ◽  
pp. 15465-15472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaijin Wu ◽  
Zhaoqiang Song ◽  
Shuaishuai Zhang ◽  
Yong Ni ◽  
Shengqiang Cai ◽  
...  

Bioinspired architectural design for composites with much higher fracture resistance than that of individual constituent remains a major challenge for engineers and scientists. Inspired by the survival war between the mantis shrimps and abalones, we design a discontinuous fibrous Bouligand (DFB) architecture, a combination of Bouligand and nacreous staggered structures. Systematic bending experiments for 3D-printed single-edge notched specimens with such architecture indicate that total energy dissipations are insensitive to initial crack orientations and show optimized values at critical pitch angles. Fracture mechanics analyses demonstrate that the hybrid toughening mechanisms of crack twisting and crack bridging mode arising from DFB architecture enable excellent fracture resistance with crack orientation insensitivity. The compromise in competition of energy dissipations between crack twisting and crack bridging is identified as the origin of maximum fracture energy at a critical pitch angle. We further illustrate that the optimized fracture energy can be achieved by tuning fracture energy of crack bridging, pitch angles, fiber lengths, and twist angles distribution in DFB composites.


Author(s):  
H. Mohamed ◽  
D. W. Bao ◽  
R. Snooks

AbstractThis research posits an innovative process of embedding carbon fibre as the primary structure within large-scale polymer 3D printed intricate architectural forms. The design and technical implications of this research are explored and demonstrated through two proto-architectural projects, Cloud Affects and Unclear Cloud, developed by the RMIT Architecture Snooks Research Lab. These projects are designed through a tectonic approach that we describe as a super composite – an approach that creates a compression of tectonics through algorithmic self-organisation and advanced manufacturing. Framed within a critical view of the lineage of polymer 3D printing and high tech fibres in the field of architectural design, the research outlines the limitations of existing robotic processes employed in contemporary carbon fibre fabrication. In response, the paper proposes an approach we describe as Infused Fibre Reinforced Plastic (IFRP) as a novel fabrication method for intricate geometries. This method involves 3D printing of sacrificial formwork conduits within the skin of complex architectural forms that are infused with continuous carbon fibre structural elements. Through detailed observation and critical review of Cloud Affects and Unclear Cloud (Fig. 2), the paper assesses innovations and challenges of this research in areas including printing, detailing, structural analysis and FEA modelling. The paper notes how these techniques have been refined through the iterative design of the two projects, including the development of fibre distribution mapping to optimise the structural performance.


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