Universität Stuttgart

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    Bending-active plates : strategies for the induction of curvature through the means of elastic bending of plate-based structures
    (Stuttgart : Institut für Tragkonstruktionen und Konstruktives Entwerfen, Universität Stuttgart, 2017) La Magna, Riccardo; Knippers, Jan (Prof. Dr.-Ing.)
    Commonly referred to as bending-active, the term has come to describe a wide variety of systems that employ the large defor-mation of their constituent components as a primary shape-forming strategy. It is generally impossible to separate the struc-ture from its geometry, and this is even more true for bending-active systems. Placed at the intersection between geometry, de-sign and engineering, the principle objective of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the structural and architectural po-tential of bending-active systems beyond the established typolo-gies which have been investigated so far. The main focus is set on systems that make use of surface-like elements as principle build-ing blocks, as opposed to previous and existing projects that pre-dominantly employed linear components such as rods and laths. This property places the analysed test cases and developed proto-types 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 discrete counterpart. The chapter proceeds with the presentation of a series of full-scale prototypes that were realised to test the validity of the form con-version approach. Geometrical and mechanical features are dis-cussed in the conclusion of the chapter. The second developed method, named integral approach, is pre-sented 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 presen-tation and discussion of the prototypes chosen to test the integral approach. Finally, the thesis concludes with a critical discussion of the presented approaches and a discussion on potential developments for future research.
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    Integrative numerical techniques for fibre reinforced polymers - forming process and analysis of differentiated anisotropy
    (2013) Waimer, Frédéric; La Magna, Riccardo; Knippers, Jan
    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.
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    Integrated design methods for the simulation of fibre-based structures
    (2013) Waimer, Frédéric; La Magna, Riccardo; Reichert, Steffen; Schwinn, Tobias; Menges, Achim; Knippers, Jan
    The production of structural components based on fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) for the building industry is still characterised by a classic downstream development process from design through engineering and down to fabrication. In the aerospace and automotive industry, the current technical developments in simulation and manufacturing processes have reached a highly advanced status. Nevertheless, these manufacturing and Analysis processes are in most cases non-transferable or unsuitable for architectural and structural purposes. The goal of the research presented in this paper is to take advantage of the benefits of FRPs within the architectural domain - focusing on material efficiency, durability and light-weight construction - and to find solutions for the problem of transferability into the building scale. For the construction of a Pavilion built on the campus of the University of Stuttgart in 2012, process-specific tools with a high degree of accuracy embedded from the start were developed for the material analysis, optimisation and fabrication steps. In contrast to product prototyping, which forms the basis of industrial mass production, prototype here refers to the establishment of processes within the context of a post-industrial, customised fabrication paradigm.