01 Fakultät Architektur und Stadtplanung
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/2
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Item Open Access 4D printed hygroscopic programmable material architectures(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2022) Correa, David; Menges, Achim (Prof., AA Dipl(Hons))Developing Materials that can change their shape in response to external signals, like heat or humidity, is a critical concern for architectural design as it enables designers to develop building components that can be programmed to transform in response to changing environmental conditions. However, developing a stimulus-responsive material requires the architect to extend its level of engagement from the macroscale of the building into the much smaller scale of the material’s micro- and meso-structure. In this thesis, a novel approach for the 4D printing (4DP) of hygroscopic responsive shape-changing mechanisms is proposed and analysed. This approach engages the design of mesoscale technical structures, via a precise material deposition, that harness the anisotropic properties inherent to the fabrication process and the constitution of the printing material itself. Organization models from biological organisms, such as motile plant structures, are abstracted into smart 4D printed techniques to preprogram water induced shape-change using copolymers with embedded cellulose fibrils. This principle enables expansion or contraction forces, whose direction and strength are dependent on the architecture of the 3D printed structure. A series of experiments are described that validate the transfer of known hygroscopic bilayer principles from lamination processes to 3D printing (3DP). They demonstrate the increased programmable control of the 4DP technique through functional gradation, moisture control and multi-phase motion; and present the augmented kinematic capacity of the novel 4DP technique. In addition to the self-shaping mechanisms, the possibilities and challenges of using 4DP structures in architectural applications, such as aperture assemblies and flap mechanisms are discussed. The presented techniques, and bio-inspired approach to material organization, demonstrate the first successful application of differentiated Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) 3DP for programmable hygroscopic shape-change. The experiments can help to form the basis for complex stimulus-responsive building components capable of performing autonomous transformations in technical applications for thermal and moisture regulation.Item Open Access A systematic approach for developing agent-based architectural design models of segmented shells : towards autonomously learned goal-oriented agent behaviors(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Schwinn, Tobias; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Segmented shell design constitutes a novel and promising research area in shell design that has emerged over the last 10 years. The prospect of dividing a continuous shell surface into segments is to resolve some of the constraints of continuous shells that have limited their application in building practice. As part of large-span surface structures, segmented shells have shown to possess similar desirable features, while allowing for a high degree of prefabrication. The geometry of individual building elements and global form are, however, complex, which poses a challenge to designing and building segmented shells. One of the challenges of segmented shell design in particular is meeting multiple interrelated, sometimes conflicting, evaluation criteria: geometric validity, structural stability, and producibility. In segmented shell design geometric validity and producibility are aspects that can be considered locally, meaning on the level of the individual building element, while structural stability needs to be evaluated globally and can be conceived of as the global effect of the properties and interactions of all segments in the shell. Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) provides the opportunity to bridge the gap between local characteristics and global performance. By focusing on the detailed description of the individual building elements and their interactions and by conceiving of the global form as the result of a myriad of local interactions of virtual agents representing building elements, the global design problem can be solved in parallel on the level of the individual building elements. The work thus proposes a methodology for developing agent-based models of buildings where agents constitute building elements. The research pursues and synthesizes two investigative strands: on the one hand, generalizing findings from previously built plate shells as part of a case study-based, inductive research approach, which is geared towards building a catalog of validated design principles for plate shells; on the other hand, systematizing the agent-based modeling approach for architectural design-oriented applications in general, and plate shell design in particular.Item Open Access Computational Design Methoden für die Gestaltung von Automobilen(Stuttgart : Institut für Computerbasiertes Entwerfen und Baufertigung, Universität Stuttgart, 2020) Reichert, Steffen; Menges, Achim (Prof.)In dieser Dissertation wird die Anwendbarkeit von computerbasierten Gestaltungsmethoden jenseits klassischer CAD-Modellierung für das Gestaltungsfeld des Automobildesigns untersucht. Formgenerierende Algorithmen und dazugehörige Anwendungsstrategien werden systematisch im Hinblick auf ihre Anwendung im Automobildesign und ihre charakteristische Formensprache vergleichend betrachtet, praktisch erprobt und experimentell erforscht. Weitergehend wird untersucht, zu welchem Zeitpunkt algorithmische Methoden im Gestaltungsprozess einsetzbar sind. Anfänglich wird die Arbeit in den historischen, methodologischen und theoretischen Kontext der Entwicklung von Computational Design gestellt. Einleitende Grundlagen sowie der Stand der Technik werden erörtert. Anschließend werden syntaktische Bestandteile virtueller Formerzeugung und Formveränderung auf prinzipieller Ebene diskutiert und in Form eines konzeptionellen Gerüsts zusammengefügt. Dieses generalisierte Gerüst soll als Rahmenwerk zur Einordnung der Fallstudien, sowie als generelle Beschreibung eines Gestaltungsystems dienen. Eine Kollektion aus sechs Fallstudien bietet einen Überblick über Möglichkeiten von Computational Design und die Vielfalt ihrer Anwendbarkeit im Automobildesign. Die Fallstudien umfassen (1) algorithmische Methoden zur Erzeugung von Mustern, (2) die Erforschung einer generativen Methode zur algorithmischen Erzeugung von dreidimensionalen Fahrzeugkörpern, (3) Umformungsmethoden von Gestaltungen, um geometrische Körper mit erhöhtem Freiheitsgrad deformieren zu können, (4) Methoden der algorithmischen, dreidimensionalen Modulation einer Körperoberfläche, (5) Methoden der algorithmischen Bildung von Entwurfsvarianten, sowie (6) eine empirische Studie zur Validität von Computational Design im praktischen Entwurfsprozess eines Konzeptfahrzeugs. Aus den Fallstudien ergeben sich eine Reihe übergreifender Erkenntnisse über den Nutzen von Algorithmen und computerbasiertem Entwerfen im automobilen Gestaltungskontext. Es wird diskutiert, welche Arten von algorithmischen Methoden in welchen Gebieten und zu welchen Zeitpunkten Anwendung finden können. Dabei wird aufgezeigt, dass Computational Design mehr als nur die simple Anwendung von Algorithmen bzw. Programmierung im Designprozess bedeutet.Item Open Access Generative agent-based architectural design computation : behavioral strategies for integrating material, fabrication and construction characteristics in design processes(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, 2017) Baharlou, Ehsan; Menges, Achim (Prof.)The aim of this thesis is to investigate the generative potential of agent-based systems for integrating material and fabrication characteristics into design processes. This generative agent-based system reflects the significance of behavioral strategies in computational design and construction. This work presents a generative behavioral approach for integrating fabrication processes with material specifications. The development of a computational framework facilitates this integration via an agent-based system. A series of experiments with related case studies emphasizes behavioral strategies within the processes of formation and materialization. This research proposes the integration of material and fabrication processes through an agent-based system. The utilization of this system reflects a theoretical framework in developing an integrative computational method. The implementation of this theoretical framework in practical studies demonstrates the applicability of this research. The practical developments highlight the importance of behavioral strategies to establish integral design computation. Chapter 1 introduces the extended behavioral strategies to integration design. Chapter 2 provides a study about integrative design computation to abstract the main drivers of design integration through agent-based modeling. Chapter 3 presents agent-based systems in architectural design, specifically, in regards to material, fabricational, and environmental principles. Chapter 4 explores experiments and case studies to adjust the development of a generative agent-based system for integrating material and fabrication characteristics in design processes. Chapter 5 explains procedures for setting-up a generative agent-based design computation. Chapter 6 discusses the significance of behavioral strategies to develop different behavioral layers within a generative agent-based architectural design. Chapter 7 concludes the integral behavioral strategies by proposing trends to minimize the gap between formation and materialization through coalescing computational and physical agent-based systems.Item Open Access Computational fiber architecture : co-design of large-scale, load-adapted fiber composite building components for robotic pre-fabrication(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2023) Zechmeister, Christoph; Menges, Achim (Prof.)The architecture, engineering, and construction sectors are encountering major challenges in delivering livable and affordable environments in light of current demographic shifts and environmental changes. Digital technologies provide promising solutions, disrupting the way to design, construct, and experience physical space. Their implementation demands rethinking design, evaluation, and materialization to leverage material capacities propelled by computational design and numerical manufacturing. Coreless filament winding extends industrial processes to produce lightweight, material-efficient building parts with minimal formwork. However, it creates additional complexity for design and engineering, as it derives its formative capacity from interacting fiber rovings. This research presents a consolidated methodology to co-design coreless wound fiber composite building components for robotic prefabrication based on four main methods. Concurrent design and evaluation of fiber components are investigated using a feedback-based computational method and implemented using multi-scalar digital-physical design and evaluation toolsets. To increase sustainability, methods and toolsets are extended allowing for the replacement of petrochemical materials with bio-based alternatives. To implement the methods at a larger scale, a computational co-design framework is introduced, reconsidering team compositions and integrating interdisciplinary experts deep into design and evaluation workflows. As Co-design relies on the concurrent evolution of involved disciplines, interdisciplinary data sets are analyzed and interrelated, serving as a base for reciprocal feedback between computational design, engineering, and fabrication to increase process reliability, enable future reduction of material safety factors, and further increase material efficiency and sustainability. The methods are demonstrated by three full-scale building demonstrators, exhibiting different fibrous building systems. The BUGA Fiber Pavilion, Maison Fibre, and the livMatS Pavilion illustrate how concurrent multidisciplinary innovation challenges conventional ways of design and materialization. Computation acts as an interface between digital and physical realms, and material capacities become primary drivers in the generation of architectural form, paving the way for sustainable, material-efficient computational fiber architecture.Item Open Access Upscaled, robotic coreless filament winding methods for lightweight building elements for architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2023) Bodea, Serban; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Starting in the 1940s, advances in the chemical industry and composite materials such as Fiber Reinforced Polymers have revolutionized manufacturing enabling new lightweight - high strength applications in the aerospace, automotive, and consumer goods industries. However, composites failed to significantly impact the building industry due to its poor digitalization and low integration of design and engineering methods. Nevertheless, these shortcomings can be mitigated through construction-specific design, fabrication methods, and building regulations for composite structures. Especially, lightweight construction has yet to capitalize on the high strength-toweight ratio afforded by composite materials such as Glass or Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers and thus shape its contribution to contemporary high-performance, lightweight architecture. However, 21st Century advances in digital design methods in conjunction with newly-available hardware and control systems allow for automated fabrication approaches to re-imagine established fabrication methods such as Filament Winding(FW). This thesis presents novel upscaling and automation strategies for Coreless Filament Winding(CFW), which is an adaptation of FW to construction applications. CFW is a fabrication method that relies on the anisotropic mechanical properties of free-spanning fibers wound around supports in space to create efficient load bearing structures without requiring molds or dies. These strategies are supported by a state-of-the-art review focused on the technological requirements for robotic coreless filament winding in construction applications. The investigation identified fabrication method scalability and insufficient process automation as research gaps in academic investigation for construction composites. The thesis demonstrates that existing prefabrication methods of Robotic Coreless Filament Winding (RCFW) can be successfully upscaled and utilized for large-scale, long-span loadbearing structures. Furthermore, the thesis presents an approach to advance existing process-monitoring and quality-control methods, named Cyber-Physical RCFW (CPRCFW). The two objectives are investigated through two representative tasks: (1) verifying the RCFW method’s scalability and its industrialization potential, and (2) the development of a CPRCFW method for quality control, integrating winding process automation, process monitoring, data acquisition, and analysis. Each objective is demonstrated through the research and development of hardware, consisting of fabrication setups and tooling and software, comprising CAD-implemented industrial robot motion planning and control algorithms. The objectives are verified through large-scale demonstrators at component and building scale, illustrating how the research findings are conducive to RCFW becoming a valid alternative to industry-verified technologies in composite construction applications.Item Open Access Timber plate shells as a roof construction system : design and fabrication of trivalent polyhedral roof structures for applications in the existing building stock(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2023) Groenewolt, Abel; Menges, Achim (Prof., AA Dipl.(Hons.))This dissertation investigates the applicability of timber plate shells as a construction system for roof structures of buildings, departing from an architectural perspective and focusing on vertical densification projects. Timber plate shells are a lightweight timber construction system that can expand the architectural vocabulary and can contribute to sustainable construction, but only few timber plate shells been constructed so far. This dissertation aims to identify and resolve potential impediments to the design and construction of timber plate shells, and to collect information and insights that may contribute to a broader application of timber plate shells in the construction sector. Various plate and joint types are discussed and two plate types with distinct joint types are investigated further: solid cross-laminated timber plates connected with crossing screws and hollow laminated veneer lumber components connected with finger joints and bolts. These plate types are assessed on criteria such as structural properties, weight, fabrication methods, material efficiency, environmental impact, air and moisture tightness, sound, thermal insulation, integration of air ducts, and costs. Furthermore, spatial typologies, strategies that deal with various architectural design considerations and approaches for the design of plate shells and the connection between global design and segmentation patterns are investigated, and contributions to geometric design methods are introduced. While the practical application of plate shells depends on the willingness of timber contractors to build in a currently unconventional way and on the willingness and ability of architects to use design methods that are novel and challenging, timber plate shells have all the qualities necessary to play a significant role in the construction sector as a lightweight, sustainable and economical roof construction system that is particularly suitable for vertical densification projects.Item Open Access Strategies for cyber-physical robotic fabrication and construction in architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Vasey, Lauren; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Interconnected devices, online robotic control, and sensor feedback can enable the development of cyber-physical systems within robotic production processes for architecture and construction. Within the context of architecture and construction, cyber-physical systems present enormous potentials, enabling a reconsideration of typical fragmentation and compartmentalization through increased possibilities for integration and collaboration and a reexamination of the role of standardization, representation, and simulation within stereotypical design and production processes. The capacity of cyber-physical systems to connect the actions of multiple machines, tools, and robots opens up new possibilities for architectural realization. The possibilities considered in this doctoral research fall into four interdependent categories: (i) Flexible, semi-autonomous, and adaptive robotic processes; (ii) Processes that involve indeterminate materials, incalculable, or non-standardized fabrication processes; (iii) Collaborative or interactive fabrication processes which connect multiple entities and human operators towards the execution of common goals; (iv) Increased integration, decision making at run-time, and diagnostics enabled by global monitoring and data processing. A set of methods for implementing a cyber-physical fabrication workflow are presented. These methods include computational techniques for circumnavigating robotic constraints both before and during production. Several extendable network architectures are presented for online control and networked communication, and their application scenarios are discussed. Computational strategies and algorithms for integrating sensor feedback during a fabrication or production process are presented and discussed. The potentials identified and techniques presented are investigated through large-scale physical demonstrators: either single robotic processes augmented with sensor feedback or multi-robot fabrication and construction processes in which networked communication systems connect robots, machines, users, and devices to work collaboratively towards common fabrication or construction goals. Critically, these case studies faced challenges that would have made them difficult or impossible to implement in the context of a highly linear and compartmentalized production workflow without feedback, sensor integration, or adaptation. The findings summarize design guidelines and strategies for cyber-physical robotic construction processes. A critical conclusion of the work is that technical methodologies are insufficient in enabling the true potentials of cyber-physical construction. Additional developments would enhance the impact of cyber-physical systems in AEC, including domain-specific hardware and software tools developed for the needs and constraints of construction. Integrated co-design processes could enable new material systems and their requisite automation systems to be co-developed.Item Open Access Granular architectures : granular materials as "designer matter" in architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2020) Dierichs, Karola; Menges, Achim (Prof.)The thesis investigates designed granular materials in architecture. Granular materials are defined as high numbers of particles larger than a micrometre, between which mainly short-range repulsive contact forces are acting. In a designed granular material the geometry and material of the individual particle are determined by a designer. Consequently, the overall granular material can have characteristics which are novel in comparison to non-designed granular materials. In architecture, designed granular materials are understood to have new characteristics which fulfil specific architectural performance criteria. The relevance of designed granular materials in architecture is threefold. All granular materials are both fully recyclable and reconfigurable due to the fact that the individual particles are in no way bound to each other. These first two aspects alone make any granular material, whether it is designed or not, a highly pertinent strand of architectural design research. However, designed granular materials, in addition to being recyclable and reconfigurable, bear the potential for the development of entirely novel material behaviours. In the context of architecture, designed granular materials can be considered as a form of "material systems", and more specifically as a sub-group of "aggregate systems". In the wider transdisciplinary context, designed granular materials for architecture can be considered a form of "designer matter (DM)". "Designer matter (DM)" is understood as matter which is designed in its structural characteristics at its mesoscale rather than its macro- or its microscale. The current state of research into designed granular materials is presented for both architecture and granular physics, on a conceptual as well as on a project-based level. In this context the thesis aims to establish and validate a first version of a comprehensive design system for exploring designed granular materials in architecture and for interfacing with granular physics. The research development of this thesis is presented and evaluated with respect to the practical, methodological and conceptual foundations which have been laid during this phase. The methods are introduced in terms of methodological frameworks, tools and techniques and the applied research methodology. The core part of the thesis comprises a design system with a related design system catalogue as well as two case studies. The design system is established for particle systems and for related construction systems. It formulates the basic system categories and corresponding parameters. The design system catalogue is presented in the appendix and summarizes tests which investigate individual aspects of the overall design system for particle and construction systems. Each of the two case studies explores the integration of a different set of design system categories. They were conducted both through full-scale prototypes and a related set of tests with statistical repetition. Case study 1 investigates vertical structures made from a designed granular material consisting of highly non-convex particles. Case study 2 combines two designed granular materials, one consisting of convex particles and the other of highly non-convex particles, in order to form spatial enclosures. The case studies are evaluated with respect to their practical, methodological and conceptual contributions to architectural design research. The thesis is summarized and its contributions are assessed in conclusion both with respect to the field of architecture and for the field of granular physics. Further research in the field of designed granular materials in architecture can be conducted on the practical, methodological and conceptual levels of design. On the practical level, in the area of particle systems the investigation of graded granular materials, of different mechanical properties of the particles' material or of designed granular materials consisting of particles with variable geometry is highly promising. In the area of construction systems, the development of behavioural models of robotic construction is very relevant. Another key direction is for the construction systems to become increasingly simple, while the particles are progressively designed to perform parts of the construction process by themselves. On the methodological level, the integration of "inverse" design methods is the logical next step. This can be done on the basis of the proposed design system. On the conceptual level, the framework of "designer matter (DM)" needs to be further established both as a transdisciplinary model and within the field of architecture. Only then can designed granular materials be fully discussed as one form of "designer matter (DM)" in architecture. Key to any further development of the overall research field is the integration of the two fields of architecture and granular physics.Item Open Access Material programming for fabrication : integrative computational design for self-shaping curved wood building components in architecture(Stuttgart : Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart, 2021) Wood, Dylan; Menges, Achim (Prof.)Form and structure play critical roles in architecture yet the processes required to produce performative geometries often require tremendous resources and physical effort. Advances in computational design and the programming of digital fabrication machines have increased variety, precision and automation in the production of building components. However, the underlying processes of generating material form still rely predominantly on brute-force methods of shaping. This research presents an alternative, material programming approach to the fabrication of building components in which shape is generated by activating the material’s inherent capacity to change in relation to external stimuli. The concept is investigated through the development of an innovative method of self-shaping manufacturing for load-bearing curved wood building components. The dissertation introduces material programming in the context of architectural design, fabrication processes, wood materials and existing self-shaping and development of a computational design-to-fabrication approach. In parallel the challenges of upscaling and predictability are addressed through computational mechanics and physical prototyping. The concept is then adapted and implemented through the design and production of components for a building demonstrator, the of the material system. The material programming approach is therefore shown as a simple yet sophisticated method of fabrication for a novel, ecological and effective architecture.