Geometry-Induced System of Controlled Deformations. Application in Self-organized Wooden Gridshell Structures
This chapter presents a novel construction system which offers an efficient materialization method for double-curved surfaces. This results in an active-bending system of controlled deformations. The latter system embeds its construction manual into the g
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Abstract This chapter presents a novel construction system which offers an efficient materialization method for double-curved surfaces. This results in an active-bending system of controlled deformations. The latter system embeds its construction manual into the geometry of its components, thus it can be used as a self-formation process. The two presented gridshell prototypes are composed of geometry-induced, variable stiffness elements. The latter elements are able to form programmed shapes passively when gravitational loads are applied. Each element consists of multiple layers and a slip zone among them. The slip allows the element to be flexible when flat and increasingly stiffer when its curvature increases. The presented system eliminates the need for electromechanical equipment since it relies on material properties and geometrical configurations. Wood, as a flexible and strong material, has been used for the prototypes. The fabrication of the timber laths has been done via CNC industrial milling processes. The scalability of the system shows potential for applications in large-scale transformable structures. The comparison between the predefined digital design and the resulting geometry of the physical prototypes is reviewed here. The aim is to inform the design and fabrication process with the extracted performance data and thus, optimize the system’s behaviour. Keywords Variable-stiffness · Active bending · Self-organization processes Flexible wood · Wood joint systems
1 Introduction The paradigm shift from mass production to mass customization and the technological burst in the second half of the 20th century changed radically the predominant design thinking. However, unlike shipbuilding, automotive and aircraft industries, E. Baseta (B) Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.dieangewandte.at/ © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 F. Bianconi and M. Filippucci (eds.), Digital Wood Design, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 24, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03676-8_28
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construction industry was not able to effectively adjust to the new reality and exploit the full potential of the new technologies that the digital era offered. Thus, the construction industry remains labor intensive and unsustainable (Frazer 1995). The urgency of that shift was not only due to changes in economic models of production but also due to social and environmental changes. After the mid of 20th century, our society underwent rapid transformations, which derived by the faster means of transport and communication that enabled tremendous flux of information and globalization. According to Castells, space became fluid (space of flows) and gained dynamicity, influenced by the perpetual transformations of the modern society (Castells 1992). This instability is the cause why architects and engineers started looking for inspiration into nature since the latter is an evolving system that can adapt to ever-changing conditions, and th
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