Did You Know?
with Niloufar Emami
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Molds 3D-printed with elastic resin prior to removal of supports.
8
Q
How can 3D printing be used for making molds for repeatable casting of concrete?
A
The pursuit of fabricating building components with complex geometries is driving innovation in contemporary architecture. With bespoke fabrication on one end and mass production on the other end of the fabrication spectrum, custom repetitive manufacturing (CRM) provides a solution for fabricating customized and complex yet repeatable building parts in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Concrete is a building material with excellent structural and architectural qualities which can be cast into any shape. 3D printing molds, into which concrete can be cast, open new avenues for investigating the fabrication of concrete components. Many studies that employed 3D printing molds for casting concrete create one mold per part where each mold is destroyed to release the part. These methods work for creating nonstandard geometric shapes, yet they are not efcient for scale-up for repeatable complex geometries. If these methods are to be scaled, reusability of the 3D printed molds becomes important because
it is not efcient to 3D print one mold per part. Advanced design strategies must be employed to create design variability with repeatable parts. To realize those design proposals, fabrication methods that can accommodate the creation of complex geometries while allowing reusability remain elusive. 3D-printed fexible formwork ofers the potential to cast complex geometries while allowing relatively easy release of the parts in multiple demolding cycles. From a diferent perspective, repeatable complex geometries have been historically used to form arches and vaults. In fact, knowledge embedded in centuries-old techniques ofers unique opportunities in the context of digital design and fabrication. Stereotomy, an artisanal technique practiced by stone masons, allows complex units to be carved out of solids. Considering the assembly of stereotomic modules, a solid whole is composed of unique, discrete, structurally independent units fabricated separately. The principles of stereotomy are seen in the design and construction of Topologically Interlocking Assemblies (TIAs) such as Abeille and Truchet fat vaults.
Assembly of the arch using cast concrete pieces.
