Fibrous Tectonics

FIBROUS TECTONICS 12.11.2015

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT HYPOTHESIS

Our system combines the tradi onal tex le technique of kni ng with inflatable pneuma c membranes to create composite fiber structures. We see these two techniques as inherently complimentary. The pneuma c membrane is able to pre-tension the fibers of the knit surface and expand it into a spa al and form-ac ve volume while kni ng allows the fibrous surface to be behaviorally and topologically programed which, in turn, determines how the pneuma c membrane inflates. The resul ng configura on of fibers is then saturated with resin and cured into a rigid structure.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

AN ARCHITECTONIC NOTION FOR KNITTING AND PNEUMATICS

Although the explora on of fibrous composites such as carbon fiber and fiberglass is rela vely new, the history of fibrous tectonics is ancient. The no on of making with a fibrous material is heavily rooted in tex le tradi ons.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

AN ARCHITECTONIC NOTION FOR KNITTING AND PNEUMATICS LINKING

BRAIDING/PLAITING

WEAVING

one strand resting on another

alternating and interlacing two or three strands

90 degree interlace of two threads

CROCHET

KNOT

interlocking loops of threads

interweaving anad binding strands

KNITTING linking multiple loops consecutively

Kni ng is the process of crea ng a tex le or fabric by arranging a con nuous ďŹ ber in a number of consecu ve, interlocking loops.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

AN ARCHITECTONIC NOTION FOR KNITTING AND PNEUMATICS

Kni ng takes advantage of the anisotropic (and otherwise specific) nature of fibers and is capable of deploying material in a highly-programmed heterogeneous arrangement, allowing the designer to control both form and material behavior.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

AN ARCHITECTONIC NOTION FOR KNITTING AND PNEUMATICS No on of pneuma cs - fibers need mode of ac va on, minimal investment in ;scaffold/mold’ most scalable,

Interac ng fibers may only form a tensile surface, and therefore need a means of ‘ac va on’ in order to be deployed as a tensioned volumetric forms

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

AN ARCHITECTONIC NOTION FOR KNITTING AND PNEUMATICS Rela on of architecture to pneuma cs

Jungmann’s pneuma c architecture

Kengo Kuma’s Teahouse

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIMENTATION: EVOLUTION OF MODELS

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIMENTATION: EVOLUTION OF MODELS

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIMENTATION: TECHNIQUES EXPLORED

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIMENTATION: TECHNIQUES EXPLORED

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

SYSTEM STATEMENT

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIMENTATION: RELATION OF MODELS TO TECHNIQUES

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

WHY

KNITTING

?

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

DEFINITION +DISADVANTAGES

Kni ng creates ght radii, crea ng a weaker structural condi on and posing the possibility of fibers fraying during fabrica on.

Frayed and broken fibers.

Kni ng disadvantages:

Tight radii make fibers suscep ble to fraying during kni ng process;

Change in fibrous direc on crates ‘hinge’ condi on as poten al structural weak-point

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING DEFINITION +CONTINUITY

Unlike other tex le techniques, kni ng uses a single, con nuous fiber.

Composites func on best when fibers are con nuous.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

PROGRAMMABILITY Kni ng is an inherently programmable process. The algorithm which informs s tches may allow for a variety of pa erns. Alterna ng the pa ern, density or tension of s tches results in a fabric surface with speciďŹ c behavioral proper es. Elas city or rigidity, density or porosity can be programmed into the material via geometric arrangement.

Kni ng instruc ons - Algorithmic parallel Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

ELASTICITY/MATERIAL BEHAVIOR

Because fibers are locally con nuous and rela vely mobile, they are able to transfer tension to adjacent local ‘nodes’. In this way the network of fibers will pursue or approximate a form in which local tensile forces are minimized.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

STITCH ALGORITHM

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

Varia ons of kni ng algorithm

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

STITCH ALGORITHM

Addi onal varia ons of knit algorithm

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING PROFILE

Kni ng controls the profile of the resul ng surface through the s tch pa ern. This contrasts methods such as weaving where looms are o en set to produce rectangular lengths of fabric which are then cut into templates to be assembled, compromising the con nuity and integrity of fibers at the edges. Knit surfaces may have complex profiles where fibers are always con nuous at the edge.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING LOOMS

Pictures/ diagrams of looms and the resul ng mode surface typologies they produce

The configura on of a loom may allow for the crea on of open or closed surfaces. (E.g. circular loom - cylindrical objects, ‘intersec ng’ loom - brachial objects, linear loom - 2D open surfaces)

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING LOOMS

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING LOOMS

Surface Typologies from Looms Circular

CrossL

inear

Cylinder

Bifurcating Tree

Flat Surface

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

LOOMS / MACHINE High-volume produc on kni ng machines are typically conďŹ gured linearly, meaning that these surfaces need to be joined along a seam to achieve closed forms Explana on of kni ng machine)

(Diagrams/pictures of machine)

(Unrolled surface with edges iden ďŹ ed to be joined at a seam)

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

LOOMS / MACHINE

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

LOOMS / MACHINE Controls/ parameters /capabili es / limita ons of machine

Punch cards Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

LOOMS / MACHINE

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING SEAMS

Knit surfaces may be con nuous/ seamless. S tches iden cal to those used in the produc on of the fabric surface may be used to close seams, ul mately crea ng a uniform condi on.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING SEAMS A. SEWING

The technique of sewing is used to fasten two seperate surfaces together, which generates a seam.

surfaces together.

surfaces together.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

SEAMS + SUTURE CURVES Loca ng seams appropriately allows for complex geometry to be unrolled into manufacture-able templates with minimal distor on.

Model with suture seams highlighted + digital model with sutures mapped for resul ng templates Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

TEMPLATE UNROLLING

SURFACE WITH STRESS MAPPING

UNROLLED SURFACE WITH STRESS MAPPING

KNITTING TEMPLATE WITH STITCH DENSITY AND TENSION ADJUSTED PER STRESS MAPPING

Doubly-curved surfaces can be approximately unrolled with minimal deforma on. The topology of unrolled templates may be ‘linked back to three-dimensional forms with addi onal informa on e.g. stress mapping/load flow. This informa on can be analyzed and transformed into a kni ng algorithm simultaneous to surface unrolling, resul ng in a streamlined solu on to template genera on.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

Tex le Heterogeneity

C. PINCHING

A series of heterogeneous condi ons can be created by manipula ng the knit surface with methods beyond s tch algorithms or seam topology.

Here we explore the possibilies of crea ng density, pleats and even structural ‘columns’ or bracing by connec ng two distant points of one or more surfaces.

Pinching is also a localized technique to stretch fabric at one

C. PINCHING - streched singularity

The inside sufrace under the pinched point results in an evenly

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

Tex le Heterogeneity

D. DOUBLE LAYERING

each other, and use resin to bound them.

Purisic, Joseph Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Demir Varholick, Yuan YuanGao, Gao,Zahra ZahraSafaverdi Safaverdi

KNITTING

Tex le Heterogeneity Kni ng can also be u lized as a medium for posi oning addi onal non-knit fibers. This allows for embedded fibers to follow a highly specific path across the surface topology and eliminates the condi on of ght radii that is integral to kni ng.

D. EMBEDDING FIBER

Carbon Fiber String

Can be used to manipulate tension/control shapes.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Fibers may also be mapped con nuously across mul ple geometric instances that would otherwise be understood as independent modules or discreet components. This stands in contrast to many precedents in which composite components are drilled-through and fastened with hardware, ul mately crea ng a weak-point at the joint condi on. Kni ng allows a rela vely seamless tectonic approach in which geometries are aggregable, yet the joint is virtually nonexistent.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION (Brachial structures)

(Diagrams showing how mul ple ďŹ bers may be con nuous/ interconnected through brachial structures)

Possible arrangements of bifurca on in spa al systems

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Branch pathways of individual ďŹ bers Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

developable surfaces and sutures may be mapped across mul ple geometries. In this way a single ďŹ ber can be con nuous across many geometric repe ons of an aggregated form.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION Con nuous knit strips running in alternate direc ons interlock and wrap forming geometries to crate an expandable network of repeating geometries without tradi onal joinery or fasteners

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Colored strips indicate con nuously knit surfaces which interlock at seam intersec ons to produce an expandable network of repea ng geometries, elimina ng the need for tradi onal joinery

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Sutured geometry is unrolled with minimized deforma on into a 2-D template. This is then ‘traced’ with a simpler profile that can be more easily produced on the manual kni ng machine. This template can be repeated and knit as a con nuous surface so as to maintain con nuity of a network of fibers across repeated geometries.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Model with purposeful trunca on - each node may be con nuously expanded in 4 direc ons.

Model demonstra ng intersec on events of mul ple surfaces. The intent was to complete a ‘kernel’ of a larger aggregable system which involves all details necessary for expansion

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

KNITTING

CONTINUOUS AGGREGATION

Model showing connec on between two ‘nodes,’ demonstra ng interlocking of mul ple con nuous, expandable surfaces. Kni

ng allows composite fiber structures to be con nuous, and repeatable/ expandable without any tradi onal no ons of joinery or fasteners Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

Using multiple inflatables to activate a knitted surface would provide spacial properties and a heterogeneous typology

Demir(Purisic), Joe(Varholick), Yuan(Gao), Zahra(Safaverdi)

WHY

PNEUMATICS

?

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS SCALABILITY

Interac ng fibers may only form a tensile surface, and therefore need a means of ‘ac va on’ in order to be deployed as a tensioned volumetric forms

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS SCALABILITY

Review of scaffolds

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS SCALABILITY

METHODS OF SCALING PNEUMATIC MEMBRANES

DIRECT SCALING

AGGREGATION

The main reason for abandoning the use of scaffolds was the rela vely large material investment and the consequen al realiza on of scale limita ons. Pneuma cs on the other hand require the least material investment per volume of any ‘ac va on’ (i.e. forming and pretensioning) system and may be increased in size either by direct scaling (e.g. Anish Kapoor) or by number in a specifically arranged aggrega on.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS SCALABILITY

Individua Aggregation

One Direction Curvature

Convex Stretching

Continuous Aggregation

Changing Curvature

Concave Stretching Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

niques we’ve developed as a means to create

form we can begin to manipulate them and establish varying formal algorithms.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT niques we’ve developed as a means to create form we can begin to manipulate them and establish varying formal algorithms.

-

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

Rela onship of weaving to pneuma cs: controlled configura ons of aggrega on

A completed membrane prior to infla on. All geometric informa on is embedded in this tex le to determine the form, behavior and configura on of aggregated pneuma cs.

Regular, standardized pneuma cs can be arranged in a controlled way to achieve a variety of unique volumetric configura ons. Complexity and uniqueness is a free consequence of the knit pa ern.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

Models inflated with regular pneuma c bladders.

Since the bladders are rela vely malleable and amorphous, The topology and local elas city of the fibrous, knit surface determines the form of the inflated structure. This eliminates the need for specially-formed pneuma c systems, allowing complexity and customiza on to be a free product of the kni ng algorithm Inflated model demonstra ng intersec on events of mul ple surfaces and bladders.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS

FORMING AND ARRANGEMENT

More Complex conďŹ gura ons of bladders and tex les allow forms to be embedded within one-another

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

PNEUMATICS RECYCLING

Standardiza on of membrane --> reusable bladders

Pneuma c being removed a er resin has cured All materials are either incorporated into the composite structure or are able to be reused.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL SYSTEM

OVERVIEW AND DESCRIPTION

SYSTEM

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1 OVERVIEW + SYSTEM TECHNIQUES USED

How to add thickness (or otherwise rinforce) thin shell forms?

Reinforcing aggrega on of bracing to exist within a double-shell wall Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1

AGGREGABLE ‘DOUBLE-WALL’ BRACING

Double-wall thickness supported by internal network of bracing

Internal bracing exists between an ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ skin; it is both aggregable and permuta onal.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1 NETWORK OF SURFACES +TEMPLATES

Design and fabrica on of surface from template/algorithm

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1 REMOVED PNEUMATICS

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1 VERTICES FOR SKIN ATTACHMENT

This network of nodes and bracing comprises two swets of points, each deďŹ ning a surface of the double wall assembly

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1

INCORPORATION OF BRACING AS MODULE IN DOUBLE-WALL

‘OUTER’-SKIN

INTERNAL BRACING

AGGREGATED WALL

‘MODULE’

‘INNER’-SKIN

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 1 PROTO-ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLE

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 2 OVERVIEW + SYSTEM TECHNIQUES USED

Plea ng of form Embedded (not knit) structural ямБbers

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 2 PLEATING

Plea ng is achieved by wrapping a network of knit surfaces around an arrangement of pneuma c membranes.

The knit pa ern of the surface determines where the membranes are located and how they may inflate. Less densely woven areas are more elas c and provide a space for the pneuma cs to swell while densely woven ribbons pinch down on the pneuma cs and create ‘valleys.’

Addi onally, a series of internal plea ng lines run between pneuma cs and pull surfaces towards each other at specific points. Plea ng results in an effec ve shell thickness, reinforcing the structure.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 2 EMBEDDED STRUCTURAL FIBERS

This model also demonstrates the possibility of embedding structural fibers along specific pathways. The embedding of these fibers, as opposed to knit integra on, allows fibers to run along a rela vely straight path and eliminates ght radius or ‘kink’ condi ons where fibers are suscep ble to fraying or poor structural performance.

In this model, fibers can be categorized with unique func onal proper es. Knit fibers which control the infla on and arrangement of pneuma cs and the posi oning of structural fibers may be comprised of more economical and less-performa ve materials such as glass fiber while high-performing and rela vely costly carbon fiber may be reserved for more efficient structural applica ons.

Structural fibers may be placed along paths of an cipated load flow and posi oning fibers can ensure that structural fibers are interac ve (tensioned and contact-bonded).

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 2 SCALING + PROTO-ARCHITECTUE

‘PROTO-ARCHITECTURAL’ FORM

FIBROUS ARRANGEMENT ACROSS PLEATING

SUB-REGION OF ‘PLEATED’ SURFACE

VARIEGATED UNDULATION OF SURFACE

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

FINAL INSTANCE MODEL 3 OVERVIEW + SYSTEM TECHNIQUES USED

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi

CONCLUSION FINDINGS

Our system combines the tradi onal tex le technique of kni ng with inflatable pneuma c membranes to create composite fiber structures.

Kni ng takes advantage of the anisotropic (and otherwise specific)nature of fibers and is capable of deploying material in a highly-programmed heterogeneous arrangement, allowing the designer to (so ly) control both form and material behavior.

These two techniques are inherently complimentary. The pneuma

c membrane is able to pre-tension the fibers of the knit surface and expand it into a spa al and form-ac ve volume while a knit surface may determine how the pneuma c membrane inflates and aggregates.

Complexity and customiza on are therefore a free consequence of the algorithmic (and possibly automated) kni ng process. This opens possibili es beyond the constarints of the tradi onal mold.

We have investegated how these processes allow for a con nuous aggrega on of fibers that do not rely on the tradi onal no on of joinery or hardware (which o en produce structural weakpoints in composite structures) We have chosen techniques in which all materials u lized are either incorporated into the resul ng structure or are able to be reused.

Lastly, all processes we have iden fied have counterparts at a much larger scale, and therefore invite the no on of a scalable system that can approach an architecture.

Demir Purisic, Joseph Varholick, Yuan Gao, Zahra Safaverdi