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C L I F F O R D
M A R I O
K O S A S I H
shell analysis
shell and frame analysis
brick fabrication
robotic fabrication
This design report documents 7 weeks of exploration and investigation involving structural
analysis, digital fabrication and material optimization, applied using various computational tools.
By evaluating the possibilities of material computation, we formulate design problems using
computational methods and technologies and decide to further explore the design of a staircase.
This design project aims to re-think and redefine how staircase is designed with respect to its
This design exploration focuses on the effect of material distribution of a canopy design on its structural strength and
Looking at simple moment diagrams for both loading conditions, it can be interpreted that more material needs to be
a b i l i t y. T h e c a n o p y f r a m e n e e d s t o b e c a n t i l e v e r e d 1 0 m e t e r s f r o m a w a l l a n d t h e r e i s o n l y 3 . 5 6 m e t e r s o f a l l o w a n c e f o r
d i s t r i b u t e d n e a r e r t o t h e w a l l i n s t e a d o f f u r t h e r a w a y. C o m p a r i n g t h e p o i n t l o a d c o n d i t i o n a n d t h e c o n t i n u o u s l o a d
t h e c a n o p y f r a m e t o h a v e e x t r a s u p p o r t v e r t i c a l l y.
condition, it can be seen that the moment diagram for the former condition is a linear graph, while the latter condition is
c u r v e d . B y u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e m o m e n t d i a g r a m f o r a c a n t i l e v e r, w e c a n b e b e t t e r i n f o r m e d i n c o n c e p t u a l i z i n g t h e c a n o p y
frame design.
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Image 001 Render view
longer members of the frame alternates in its origin, from the top and
diagrams above. Along the longer side of the canopy frame, the
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Material: Steel
Radius: 0.1 m
Maximum deflection: 1.688 mm
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The shell canopy needs to cover a span of 10m between two buildings. It can be supported from both sides of the
Similar to the cantilever frame canopy before, it is structurally better for the shell canopy to have a variation in hight
building. Furthermore, this canopy needs to have deflection less than 5mm.
a l o n g t h e z - a x i s . S i n c e w e h a v e t w o s i d e s o f t h e b u i l d i n g n o w, t h e e s s e n t i a l p a r t t o t a k e n o t e o f i s t h e m i d d l e p o r t i o n o f
t h e c a n o p y, w h e r e t h e m o s t d e f l e c t i o n w i l l b e m o s t l i k e l y t o o c c u r. T h e r e f o r e , b y m i r r o r i n g t h e p r o f i l e o f t h e c a n o p y f r o m
o n e t o t h e o t h e r, i t i s a b l e t o p r o v i d e e x t r a s u p p o r t f o r t h e d e f l e c t i o n .
Higher positive
amplitude
Lower positive
amplitude
Higher negative
amplitude
Higher positive
amplitude
Lower positive
T
amplitude
Higher negative
amplitude
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The canopy is formed by lofting two curves together and creating intertwining shell. With thickness of 0.411m, the
deflection stands at 0.277mm, which is far below the allowable deflection of 5mm.
I m a g e 0 0 5 R e n d e r v i 14
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Material: Concrete
Thickness: 0.411m
Maximum deflection: 0.277mm
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The shell and frame canopy needs to cover the space between two 50m long buildings separated 12m apart. The
Through form-finding from past precedents, the most efficient way for forces to run through matter is to form a catenary
coverage needs to be at least 80% and the boundary condition needs to be simply supported. Furthermore, the
s t r u c t u r e . T h e r e f o r e , t h i s d e s i g n e x p l o r a t i o n f o c u s e s o n t h e c a t e n a r y f o r m o f a s h e l l c a n o p y. K n o w i n g a b o u t t h e c a t e n a r y
m a x i m u m a l l o w a b l e d e f l e c t i o n s h o u l d b e c a l c u l a t e d f r o m s p a n / 3 0 0 . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e m a x i m u m a l l o w a b l e s t r e s s i s 1 2 M P a
f u n c t i o n i s e s s e n t i a l i n t h i s d e s i g n e x e r c i s e a s t h a t i s t h e m a i n d r i v i n g f o r c e o f t h e f o r m o f t h e c a n o p y. T h e p a r a m e t r i c
where t = 0 corresponds to the vertex and a equals to the parameter that determines how quickly a catenary graph opens
up.
Catenary shape forms the cross section of the canopy and through the long section, the parameter a changes so as to
give different spatial experience. The entrance and the exit will have higher parameter a so as to create a larger volume
Z
s p a c e a s c o m p a r e d t o t h e m i d d l e p o r t i o n . L a s t l y, t o c r e a t e h o l e s i n o r d e r t o p r o v i d e v e n t i l a t i o n t o t h e s p a c e u n d e r t h e
c a n o p y, t h e f o r m i s i n f l u e n c e d b y s i n e c u r v e i n t h e p l a n v i e w s o a s t o c r e a t e t h i s m e a n d e r i n g f o r m .
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I m a g e 0 0 9 R e n d e r v i 20
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Radius: 0.1 m
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Bricks of different quality (i.e. hard, medium and soft) are needed to visualize topology optimization in the physical world.
A group of 11 students explored different materials and methods of production to end up with concrete and casting. Here
are the documentations of different bricks produced as experimentation as well as the actual mass production of the
concrete bricks.
We e x p e r i m e n t e d w i t h s t y r o f o a m c u b e s b y c u t t i n g h o l e s i n i t u s i n g t h e f o a m c u t t e r. T h e r e s u l t i s p r e t t y r a n d o m a n d
quality (i.e. hard to soft) instead of varying the materials from hard to soft.
chaotic, yet this is the beginning of the idea of creating holes on an opaque material to produce cubes with different
To p r o d u c e a s o f t o r t r a n s l u c e n t c u b e , w e d e c i d e d t o m e l t g l u e
stick and mold them into a cube. We needed about less than
10 glue sticks in order to fill up 5cm x 5cm x 5cm cube. It is a
tedious and long process to melt the glue stick first then pour
it into the mold. It takes almost 2 days to harden, after which
the soft or translucent quality is not really successful since the
a c h i e v e t h e v a r y i n g q u a l i t y. I n t h i s c a s e , i t i s t r a n s l a t e d i n t o t h e d i f f e r e n t t h i c k n e s s o f p a p e r i n o r d e r t o f i l l i n t h e e m p t y
This is the latest iteration that we did before our concrete cubes. The design idea begins with creating holes in order to
To p r o d u c e a c u b e w i t h f u l l o p a c i t y, w e d e c i d e d t o m e l t c a n d l e
wax and mold them into a cube. The result is pretty successful
w i t h t h e c u b e s t i l l i n t a c t a f t e r t h e m o l d i s r e m o v e d . H o w e v e r,
the options of varying its opacity or quality are very limited as
S t i l l s t i c k i n g t o t h e i d e a o f m o l d i n g , w e t r i e d t o m o l d d i f f e r e n t m a t e r i a l s n o w i n c l u d i n g n e w s p a p e r, p l a s t i c b a g a n d t i s s u e
p a p e r. U s i n g a m i x t u r e o f e a c h m a t e r i a l a n d w h i t e g l u e ( p a p e r- m a c h e ) , w e p u t t h e m i n s i d e t h e m o l d f o r a f e w d a y s i n t h e
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We decided to carry on with casting concrete and mass produce our cubes. By varying the opening in the concrete, we
can achieve the three different qualities needed for the cubes: soft, medium and hard. The following pages documents
medium
3c
x 3
cm
2c
hard
m
2c
x 2
c
1c
c
x 1
2c
soft
1c
x 1
cm
0c
c
x 0
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c o n c r e t e a n d w a t e r, w e s t a r t e d
c o r r e c t l y. I n i t i a l l y, w e w a n t e d t o
t h e c a s t i n g p r o c e s s . To b e m o r e
b a t c h o f m o l d . H o w e v e r, i t i s t h e n
w i t h t h e r i g h t a m o u n t o f w a t e r, a n d
t o f i t i n t o o n e a n o t h e r. T h e r e f o r e ,
1 0 h o l e s a t o n c e . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t o
removed.
b y s i d e i s h a r d e r t h a n 5 b r i c k s o n l y.
cubes.
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A f t e r p r o d u c i n g t h e c u b e s t h r e e v a r y i n g o p a c i t y, w e c a n v i s u a l i z e p h y s i c a l l y a 3 D t o p o l o g y o p t i m i z a t i o n c o n d i t i o n b y
cubes.
load
support
mesh
r e c t a n g u l a r s p a c e . T h e l o a d i s a c t i n g d o w n w a r d s a n d t h e s u p p o r t i s a f i x e d a l o n g t h e x , y, a n d z a x i s .
be performed. In this case, we are experimenting with one support at the end and one load at the other end of the 3D
a r r a n g i n g t h e c u b e s u s i n g r o b o t i c a r m s . F i r s t l y, w e n e e d t o d e t e r m i n e a s c e n a r i o w h e r e 3 D t o p o l o g y o p t i m i z a t i o n c a n
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table.
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s o l u t i o n s . A d d i t i o n a l l y, o t h e r s y s t e m s u c h a s
g r a b i n g c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d . L a s t l y, f o r q u i c k f i x
we can just hold it down with our hands or allow
for more resting time for the suction system to
properly grab the cubes and let them go.
To l e r a n c e o f 5 m m t o 1 0 m m i s n e e d e d f o r t h e r o b o t
fabrication.
w i t h o u t h i t t i n g o n e a n o t h e r.
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