Articulated Surface Bootcamp, Architectural Association, EmTech

Emergent Technologies and Design, Bootcamp Architectural Association

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

Introduction

system The proposed material system was designed to allow for global change across a structurally articulated surface through incremental component variations. It was possible to control the system’s overall global form and structural stability through geometric variations at the component level.

The aim of this project was to create a structurally articulated surface by locally bending/folding flat components into an interconnected structural form.

unit The basic geometric unit in the system was a flat triangular polypropylene sheet which was arrayed into a scalable repeating pattern.

To increase rigidity and generate a degree of vertical deformation, each piece was scored and folded at each of its edges according to its relative location. By varying the shape of the scorelines it was possible to create an array of

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

different components which were based on the same geometry but which had varying degrees of stiffness, vertical curvature, and environmental effect when folded into shape. global Once the relationship between local manipulations and the overall deformation was established, it was possible to compute deformation on a larger scale. It was established that the shape and structural stability of the overall global geometry could be controlled relatively easily by modifying the scoreline and base width of the constructing components.

Contents Introduction 2 Material Studies 4 Form-Finding 6 Fabrication Techniques and Detailing 8 Aggregation Logic 10 Computational Logic 12 Local Behavior 14 Prototyping 16 Conclusions 18

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2 | 3

Material Studies

TESTS 01 ABENDING series of experiments were carried out

to determine the bending capabilities of various materials. The first experiment set up was used to determine the amount of vertical deformation that a material exhibits as a vertical force is applied to it.

Graph.1 shows the amount of vertical bending plotted against weight applied to various test samples. This helped give an indication of which material would best suit the needs of the project. It was noted that Polypropylene showed the most desirable properties since it was relatively easy to bend (as opposed to stiffer materials such as plywood and MDF) but it also displayed a higher bending resistance than the paper and aluminum samples. This meant that it was relatively easy to bend the Polypropylene into shape but when needed, it provided a degree of resistance which was used to give the component rigidity through scoring and folding manipulations.

DEFORMATION TESTS 02 The second experiment was set

up to measure the ability of a material to deform vertically when compressed equally along 3 horizontal axes.

The material samples were cut into triangular components which resembled their final form within the final structure and were compressed simultaneously at each edge in predetermined incraments. Graph.2 shows the ratio between horizontal and vertical deformation for the different test materials. Polypropylene exhibited a relatively linear ratio of vertical deformation against horizontal compression. This indicated that it deforms in a linear manner as force is applied unlike cardboard or MDF which exhibit nonlinear elasticity when compressed. This meant that an array of components constructed out of Polypropylene would deform proportionally to the force applied to them and would therefore not experience areas of irregular deformation which may lead to material failure.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

1. MATERIAL BENDING RESISTANCE bending deformation (mm)

70

Polypropylene

Aluminium

60

Paper

0.5 mm Plywood

50 Sheet Metal

40

Cardboard

30

20

MDF

10 1.5mm Plywood

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

weight applied (g)

vertical deformation (mm)

2. MATERIAL DEFORMATION

horizontal compression (mm)

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Form-Finding

3

1

2

FUNCTIONAL ARTICULATION 03 Early form-finding experiments incorporated

three component types: 1. Outward-bending panel, 2. A smaller panel being held in tension inside the outer panel, and 3. A series of pin-joints keeping the panels in place. The intention of the inner pieces was to predetermine the orientation of the corners of the outer triangle. The pin joints lacked the geometric fixing that a rigid structure required.

AND RIGIDITY 04 ToJOINERY remove unnecessary materials, a joinery mechanism was built into the next iteration. An inner member incorporated a hinge, and all other corners incorporated a rotating slit. The inclusion of scores created beam-like articulations in each member. This connection design still had some free rotation, hindering control over the global geometry.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

SIMPLIFICATION 05 The highest amount of

control over the relative orientation of components was afforded by a linear slitting system. By working with a single unit with flaps on its sides for rigidity, one is able to control rotation in the vertical direction of each component. These models also demonstrated the capacity of the system for anticlastic curvature.

VARIABILITY 06 ByLOCAL introducing variability in flap sizes, a range of relative angles, orientation, and ventilation capacities arose from each one of the components in the system.

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Fabrication Techniques and Detailing

LINES 07 BySCORE creating score lines with the laser cutter,

the unit was able to be folded into flat beam-like components that acted as the rib of the articulated structure. Any variation in the score line alters the regional and global system by relative orientation.

08 OfJOINTS all the methods tested for joining the module,

cutting out a tongue and slit system made the most of the material. It eliminated the need for additional components and materials. The long slit prevents free rotation and provides more control of curvature.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

2

1

2

09 ACOMPRESSION 3-dimensional form

emerges by the assembly of local units. The elastic property of polypropylene creates a push force against the local neighboring unit. Global curvature is the result of putting differently proportioned units together.

FLAP 10 ToRIBmodulate

ambient effects along with the structural variations in the model, an extended rib was added which controls air flow and visual filtration. When compressed into shape, the flap either protrudes flat or curves into the interior (both configurations were proven to be structurally stable).

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1

Aggregation Logic

MANIPULATION 11 AsLOCAL the curvature of each bend line changes,

so does the direction and orientation of the next component in the sequence. The thinner the flap, the less drastic the global curvature.

REGIONAL MANIPULATION 12 Each component controls the relative

orientation of neighboring panels. In the horizontal axis, each component flexes outwards to create an arc opposite to its own, making it stable and able to stand. The vertical curvature of each component is predetermined by the bending factor of its scores.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

1

2 GLOBAL MANIPULATION 13 The latest iteration of this project features three variables that are observable in our physical model.

By widening the bottom units, the overall shape arcs backwards in an anticlastic fashion. By exaggerating their curvature at the top, the surface begins to curve with a sharper angle change creating anticlastic curvature in the interest of building a self-supporting geometry.

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Computational Logic a = edgeWidths b= flapWidths1 c = flapWidths3 d = scoreDistance1 e = bendingCurveRotation h = componentHeight w = componentWidth Ø = componentCurvature

a

e h

d

b c

w

a a Ø

14 LOCAL INPUT VARIABLES 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

edgeWidths = 30 flapWidth1 = edgeWidths/2 flapWidth2 = edgeWidths/2 flapWidth3 = edgeWidths*(2/3) scoreDistance1 = 13 scoreDistance2 = 13 scoreDistance3 = 10 maxbeningCurveRotation = 90 bendingCurveRotation = 80

REGIONAL MANIPULATION 15 Through computational iteration it was noted that the overall component curvature (Ø) was proportional to the flap-width (a). It was possible to increase the curvature between both ends of the component by increasing the depth of the flaps. Once this relationship was understood, the global curvature of the final structure could be controlled by modifying the flap-widths of the separate components.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

UNIT 1

UNIT 2

UNIT 3

UNIT 4

UNIT 5

UNIT 6

16 GLOBAL VARIABLES 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Series:

numberRows = 6

panelsPerRow = rowNumber X [width] of Component minComponentWidth = 27.1cm maxComponentWidth = 39.9 cm Y [height] of Component minComponentHeight = 28.5 cm maxComponentHeight = 34.5 cm Side Flap Sizes:

minFlapWidth= 1.8 cm

maxFlapWidth = 14.2 cm

Y [height] Factor for Side Flaps Arc Point: 9. minYFactor = .4 10. maxYFactor = .27 A triangular structure was modeled through a range of values, distributed through six rows: six components wide at the bottom assembling toward one component at the top. The minimum and maximum values were mapped across these rows to create a wide component at the bottom and narrow to the top (with larger flaps at the top than at the bottom).

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Local Behavior

top unit

transitional

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

bottom unit

ANALYSIS 17 AtDISPLACEMENT the component level, the capacity

of each panel to generate curvature is Illustrated by displacement maps on its surface under loading conditions. As previously mentioned, the panels were prototyped in a range of scales and displacement tests were carried out on all of the different variations.

MODELING 18 ByDISPLACEMENT modeling the local material deformation,

it is possible to understand how it regulates the global geometry. The biggest difference between the tendencies of bottom and top-most panels is that the top panels push their neighboring components inward, while the bottom-most panels push outward.

This differentiation is the primary tool to create anticlastic curvature from the articulated surface.

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Prototyping

EFFECT 19 AMBIENT The flap design provided an opportunity for yet

another controllable variable as it allows the structure to modulate light and ventilation. A next design iteration would attempt to incorporate inputs from the local environmentinto the design effectively making a reactionary ‘skin.’ It was noticed that the structure is stable in both ‘open’ and ‘closed’ states however more design investigation needs to occur in order to understand the full structural capabilities of the system.

PROTOTYPE 20 The final prototype

consisted of 21 components organized into 6 rows. The components were varied slightly between one row and the next in order to achieve stability within the final structure. The bottom elements where designed with a wide base and relatively shallow flaps to allow for the structure to curve into a stable c-shape at the base. The top elements had deeper flaps which made the components rigid and helped bend the top of the structure into shape.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

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Conclusions

I

MATERIAL VARIATION

With regards to this material system there are several aspects to develop further. Further experiments studying the structural capabilities of thicker plastics could be carried out in order to achieve a wider variety of curvatures at larger scales.

The visual and environmental aspects of the project could be further studied by varying the opacity of the plastic in different locations. The global geometry could be made more transparent relative to a point of interest to control the view and regulate the lighting conditions inside the structure.

II

STRUCTURAL VARIATION

Fabrication has played a major role in the design process of this particular system. As previously mentioned, the local manipulations of a flat polypropylene sheet dictated its properties as a 3-dimensional component. To further analyze the global forms of the system, a range of possible local curvatures could be studied and cataloged to understand the global curvature more effectively. Through further digital analysis, it would be possible to explore other possible component configurations and generate other structurally stable systems based on this component logic.

Group 1 _ Nicolo Bencini, Thanisorn De Vapalin, Hazar Karahan, Francis McCloskey 5 November, 2014

III

EXPANDING CAPABILITY

Through a deeper understanding of the material properties and more refined digital modeling, this system could be expanded into a construction of much larger size. The diagram below shows one possible construction which utilities the structural properties of the system in order to create a pod-like structure. This system could be further developed by making it reactive to local environmental conditions and making the flaps open and close depending on certain environmental conditions.

With an increase in scale and an implementation of reactive systems, this structure could perceivably be explored as an experiential device for creating intimate shaded spaces.

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