3D printed Structures (FSS6 - 2022)

FSS#6 PRINTED STRUCTURE

Freeform Spatial Structures (FSS) workshops are part of more extensive research of the Digital Craft House in freeform structure and integrated computational design and construction. Each workshop investigates a unique technique to build a freeform structure using computational tools. In each workshop, researchers, containing students and instructors, try to develop a construction system and create a computational design tool dedicated to the system. Finally, the team designed and built a building scale structure using the tool.

This workshop tried o develop a system for a lattice space frame using 3D printing technology. It was held in winter 2022 at the University of Art, Bagh-Melli campus. The result is a spatial structure with 3D printed joints and steel bar elements.

This workshop focused on two topics, 3D printing technology and computational design and fabrication of the freeform standardless spatial structure. To learn and practice 3D printing, the workshop started with a simple object fabrication. Then, students try to design and fabricate the different types of joints. Next, we developed a BIM tool to convert a wire mesh to a LOD400 BIM model and fabrication data. Finally, researchers fabricate the elements and assemble the structure.

This workshop contains seven phases as follows:

Chapter one: The new fabrication paradigm

• Phase one, introduction to digital fabrication and 3d printing

• Phase two, Practice understanding 3d printing, material, and Technique

Chapter two: Design

• Phase three, Joint design, prototyping

• Phase four, form design, selecting the best form and joint system

Chapter three: Final Product

• Phase five, BIM modeling

• Phase six, fabrication

• Phase seven, assembly

CHAPTER ONE: THE NEW FABRICATION PARADIGM

The first chapter of the workshop was an introduction to the new fabrication paradigm. Firstly, tutors introduced the 3D printing technology and demonstrated how to design and fabricate with the 3D printer. Secondly, students tried to use theoretical knowledge in real practice.

On the first day, tutors introduced several topics, including digital fabrication, different types of 3D printing and their usage, 3D modeling, and generating fabrication data.

In order to better understand the 3D printing technology and its function, students started to design and fabricate simple objects. In this practice, they learned the suitable design for 3D printing and its limitations.

CHAPTER TWO: DESIGN

After a brief introduction, the main part of the workshop was to begin. In this chapter, students started to design two main things, the system, and the form. The system is the way that we put the elements together to create a structure, and the form is the shape of the final product.

In this section, each group designed and developed a system or a joint that can connect the structural elements to each other, according to what they learned in the first chapter. Then, they fabricated these prototypes, and students selected the best alternative considering criteria like aesthetics and strength.

Researchers tried to generate different wire meshes as the form for the final product of the workshop, which was the real scale structure. Various forms were developed and designed in relation to the design systems. Finally, the best form, which was a kind of a cellular 3D Voronoi selected by the researchers.

CHAPTER THREE: FINAL PRODUCT

We had a wire mesh as a form and a system, and in this chapter, we wanted to convert these data to a real structure. First, we developed a BIM generator computational tool that converts a wire mesh to a detailed BIM model containing fabrication data. Then, structural elements and the joints are fabricated using digital fabrication tools, and the components are assembled to create the final structure.

A model containing all of the elements, joints, bolts, and accurate information was needed to fabricate the structure, which is hard to create when the design is freeform. Thus, we developed a computational tool that uses the system logic to convert the wire mesh to the final model immediately and automatically.

The joints, the most controversial part of this structure, were fabricated using several 3D printers in 5 days. Whereas the only variable property of the elements was their length, elements were cut in different lengths from long metal profiles.

In the end, the structure was assembled in a day by the students and hung from the ceiling of the hall of the University of art.

Introducing the Organizers: The workshop was organized by Digital Craft House at University of Art.

Workshop supervisor: Dr. Alireza Mostaghni

Students (Alphabetical):

Ahmadreza Keivanpour

Alireza Bahramifar

Ana Azhdar

Atousa Sarrafi

Bahar Moradi

Fatemeh Zarei

Ghazaleh Elyasi

Mahsa Zamani

Marzieh Pourramezan Zidehsaraei

Mobina Alibabaei

Mona Ranjbar Nikkhah

Nastaran Esmaeili

Navid kakavand

Nazaninsadat Hashemi

Paria Haghdoust

Romina Oghazian

Samaneh Torabifar

Teachers (Alphabetical):

Danial Keramat

Hanieh Omid

Javad Allahgholi

Mehran Masoudi

Mohammad Hossein Karimian

Mona Lavasani

Ramtin Haghnazar

Seyed Ali Derazgisoo

3D Printing:

Abolhassan Karimi