climate

futures


On view at the Liberty Research Annex
October 17, 2024 - January 1, 2025


about
projects
  1. 22/26 Midwest
  2. Ambiguous Territory
  3. Annotation and Insulation
  4. Asutsuare Rebound
  5. Atlas of the Trans-Apocalypse
  6. Becoming Biomass
  7. Bespoke Ultra-Thin Layered 3D-printed Reusable Wood-Bio-Based Formwork for Casting Complex Concrete Geometries
  8. Branch Wall: Geometrically Informed Non-Planar Toolpath and Material Deposition
  9. Deploy 2.0
  10. Detroit Cultural Center
  11. Elephant in the Room, and Other Fables
  12. Fabric-Formed Unstabilized Poured Earth
  13. Frie(s/d)
  14. Functionally Graded Additive Manufacturing
  15. Guidance for Designing and Implementing Constitutionally Valid Local Plans and Regulations to Protect Landmarked Trees, Woodlands, and Tree Canopy in Michigan
  16. Heat and Housing: Co-producing Passive Cooling Strategies and Promoting Health in Informal and Precarious Settlements
  17. Hygroscopic Envelope: Building Enclosures for Climate Adaptation
  18. In My Backyard
  19. In-Svalbard: Cold Coast Atlas
  20. Land, Foodways, and Kinship: The Case of Palestinian Villages
  21. Light Forms
  22. MiCE Architecture: Design Strategies to Mitigate Michigan Coastal Erosion
  23. Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
  24. Myco-Composite Furniture
  25. Post Rock Post-Industrial Plastic Facade
  26. re:FE Reimagining Mining Waste from a Wounded Region
  27. Shell Wall: Coupling Non-Planar Robotic 3D Concrete Printing and Topology Optimization
  28. Solar Technology Integration on Building Facades
  29. The Canopy
  30. The Lifespan Project
  31. Unfolding Forms of Conveyance
  32. Urban Climate Law Series
  33. Vertical Wetlands





Shell Wall: Coupling Non-Planar Robotic 3D Concrete Printing & Topology Optimization
AMania Aghaei Meibodi        2024

27

Shell Wall demonstrator is the first lightweight, structurally reinforced freeform concrete wall ever 3D printed. Its optimized geometry features a hierarchical grid of curved ribs, with diameters from 65 to 150 millimeters. The non-load-bearing areas between the ribs are only 6.5 to 8 centimeters deep, allowing insulation to be sandwiched between two 2.5-millimeter-thick concrete shells. The domed fields between the ribs enhance stability while minimizing material use. Weighing just 160 kilograms, Shell Wall represents a 72% weight reduction compared to traditional solid concrete walls.

This research focuses on non-planar 3D concrete printing (3DCP) to create topology-optimized building components. By concentrating load points rather than distributing them, this approach reduces concrete consumption, improves structural performance, and lowers a building’s carbon footprint. Additionally, the study aims to eliminate accelerators that can weaken the material and cause cracking.

Key methods include a Geometrically Informed Non-Planar toolpath (GINP-toolpath), which allows for curved printing paths, and a Geometrically Informed Variable material deposition method (GIV-material deposition), which adjusts the material flow based on the design’s geometry, ensuring efficient and effective 3D printing.