TRUNCATED SEATING
Design 497_WSU
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
CONTENTS:
Truncated Hexagonal Block Sculpture: - Early Exploration 01 - Interlocking of Component 02 - Orig. Component Construction 03-04 - Forces and Reactions 05 - Abstracted Geometry 06 - Connections 07 - Local Patterning 08 - Regional Patterning 09-10 - Return to Abstracted Geometry 11 - Case Studies 12-13 - New Component 14 - Component Variations 15 - Component Construction 16 - Forces and Reactions 17 - Component Connections 18 - Local Patterning Connections 19 - Local Patterning 20 - Local Patterning Variations 21 - Local Patterning Construction 22 - Forces and Reactions 23 - Global Connections 24 - Global Patterning 25 - Global Patterning Construction 26 - Final Views 27-28 - Material Variation Analysis 29 - Program Applications 30 - Re-Addition of Cross Bracing 31 - New Connections 32-34 - Material Decision 35 - Wheat Board Process 36 - Downsized Aggregation 37 - Seating Detail 38 - Assembly and Process 39 - Final Views 40-41 - Conclusion 42
EARLY EXPLORATION: Original aim was to create a component through a series of cuts and connections, that will be able to withstand the application of compression force and provide a variety of options for patterning.
1.1 Four sided pyramid with curved base.
In figure 1.1, the curved bottoms limited the possibilities for connections and collapsed when compression force was applied. As a result the component was modified into a basic pyramid with six sides to provide a larger ground surface area, shown in figure 1.2. In an effort to join the interior of the component, the top of the pyramid was removed and reattached at the base, shown in figures 1.3 and 1.4.
1.2 Six sided pyramid, distributes force evenly.
An exploration in material thickness resulted in the discovery that velum increased the resistance of compression forces throughout the component.
1.3 Sketch paper truncated six sided pyramid.
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1.4 Vellum, decreased leg rotation.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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INTERLOCKING: In an effort to simplify the joinery in the center of the component, a modification of the component with the alteration of a three piece assemblage that connects at 60 degree angles from one another, secured with a square piece that slides into the bottom to stabilize the legs, shown in figure 2.1. Figure 2.2 shows the exploration of material thickness, which drastically increased the resistance to compression forces and provided possible connection surfaces on the edges of the legs.
2.1 Sixteenth inch chipboard interlocking option.
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2.1 Eighth inch chipboard interlocking option.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
COMPONENT CONSTRUCTION: The component is constructed from a template with a very small waste percentage. The first step is to cut along the slit lines and separate all the pieces, as shown in figure 3.2. 3.1 Component template.
3.2 Step one, cut slits and separate squares.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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COMPONENT CONSTRUCTION The second step is to join two of the leg pieces at a sixty degree rotation from each other, shown in figure 4.1. The third step is attaching the third leg still at a sixty degree angle from the others, shown in figure 4.2. The final step is to secure the legs of the component by inserting the squares at the bottom.
4.1 Step two, slide in at 60 degree rotation.
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4.2 Step three, slide in remaining piece.
4.3 Step four, slide in squares on the bottom.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
FORCES AND REACTIONS: Compression forces are applied to the top of the component and there is very little resulting deformation within the component, as shown in figure 5.2. This lack of deformation is due to the forces being directed straight through the center of the component. The component has been proven to support up to the weight of a student, as shown in figure 5.3.
5.1 Compression force applied on top surface.
5.2 The force transfers straight down the center.
5.3 Component supporting the weight of a student.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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ABSTRACTED GEOMETRY: The abstracted geometry of the component is a truncated hexagonal pyramid, as shown in figure 6.1. The abstracted geometry provides connection surfaces on all of the faces and edges of the component, however the strongest connection will be on a bottom to bottom connection, as shown in figure 6.2. These connections could also happen in a top to top orientation and then connect to the inversely connected pair on a edge to edge connection, as shown in figure 6.3.
6.2 Bottom and top surfaces distribute forces straight through.
6.1 Truncated hexagonal pyramid.
6.3 Ridges between surfaces provide connections.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
CONNECTIONS: Exploration of the abstraction of the component resulted in the wire frame model, shown in figure 7.1, which easily displays the patterning connection locations and options. Figure 7.2 shows the first attempt in creating a connection joint that would be able to provide connections for patterning in multiple directions.
7.1 Abstracted wire frame, shows possible patterning option.
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7.2 Multiple direction connection joint.
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LOCAL PATTERNING: The local patterning of the component is a face to face connection either in the top to top or bottom to bottom orientation. These connections are inverses of each other and can be seen in figures 8.2 and 8.4.
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8.1 Local top-top surface connection.
8.2 Top-top connection, moves forces down.
8.3 Local bottom-bottom connection.
8.4 Bottom-bottom connection, moves forces down.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
REGIONAL PATTERNING: In the regional scale, the inverse components can be attached in a horizontal manner on a edge to edge connection, as seen in figure 9.1. This connection type can then be applied to multiple components and aggregate out in a maximum of three directions in a plane as well as in a vertical orientation to create depth.
9.1 Horizontal ridge connection.
9.2 Connection doesn’t slip out.
9.3 Connections allow stacking in multiple directions.
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REGIONAL PATTERNING: The second regional patterning option occurs when two locally patterned components are attached in an edge to edge manor, curving inwardly, as shown in figure 10.1. When six of these components are aggregated in the same orientation, they join together to form a hexagon, shown in figure 10.3.
10.1 Angled ridge connection.
10.2 Begins to enclose.
10.3 Joins into a hexagon.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
RETURN TO ABSTRACTED GEOMETRY: With the completion of the midterm presentation, a return to the abstracted geometry of the component was suggested in order to achieve a simpler form in which would achieve complexity in its aggregation. Returning back to this simpler form also allows for stronger connections between components than the original edge to edge connection.
11.1 Abstracted component.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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CASE STUDIES: Along with the simplification of the component, looking to case studies for examples of complex aggregations began. The Voussoir Cloud provided an example of varying components in a manor where the overall form became less dense as it rose up from the ground. This idea of increasing and decreasing density throughout the global aggregation creating a structural relationship is what was taken away.
12.1 Voussoir Cloud, IwamotoScott global form.
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12.2 Voussoir Cloud, IwamotoScott component variation.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
CASE STUDIES: The GAUD12 exhibit and the Table Cloth are examples of simple components with complex connectors, in which each connection connects one component to several other components. In these examples, both global forms are being supported by suspension systems, which is a different structural system than the compressive system that the original aim depicts.
13.1 GAUD12: Student Exhibition Pratt Institute, SOFTLAB emphasized connection.
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13.2 Table Cloth, Ball Nogues Studio various and emphasized connections.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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NEW COMPONENT: Applying a snap into the ridges of the component was based on the connectors from the previous case study. These snaps help secure the correct angle between the component faces and limit deformation which can occur when compressive forces are applied to any of the component’s faces. The new component which resulted from this addition is also easier to fabricate due to its simplistic fold-up method of assembly.
14.1 Final component, front view.
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14.2 Final component, top view.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
COMPONENT VARIATIONS: Using the idea of component variation which was seen in the first case study, the new component has three varieties which are to reduce the visible load of the global form as well as serve a structural purpose. The most dense component, figure 15.1, is the structural option in which is used in a location of the aggregation where high compression forces are located. The least dense component, figure 15.3 is used at the edges of the aggregation where there are little compressive forces. The medium density component is used to link the other two variations together in a manor that is not shocking on the eye visibly.
15.1 Most dense, structural component.
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15.2 Medium dense component.
15.3 Least dense component.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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COMPONENT CONSTRUCTION: The component is constructed in two steps, the first is to cut out the template of the component and the associated connectors. The second step is to fold the component on the score lines and insert the snapping connectors to secure in place, a small amount of glue is added onto the overlapping slits, for added support.
16.2 Component folds on score lines and connectors are inserted.
Cut Line
16.3 Component end tabs are glued to secure geometry in place.
Score Line
16.1 Component template with connectors.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
FORCES AND REACTIONS: The constructed component balances compression forces throughout evenly. You can see this in the minimal resulting displacement from an applied 500 psi compressive force load.
17.1 Component geometry with 500 psi applied.
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17.2 Resulting displacement with a deflection scale of 10.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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COMPONENT CONNECTIONS: The snapping connectors which the component uses are arrowhead shaped so that after they are inserted, they are difficult to remove. The back side of them are set to the angle in which the component faces must stay secured to, preventing deformation when compressive forces are applied.
18.1 Connector shape is designed to snap in place and lock.
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18.2 Connectors secure faces of component in place.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
LOCAL PATTERNING CONNECTIONS: Similar to how the component snap connectors secure the faces in place, the local aggregation connection secures the connecting faces of neighboring components so that they do not become disconnected with applied forces.
19.1 Local aggregation adds an additional connector to attach two components together.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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LOCAL PATTERNING: The local aggregation is assembled using the local snapping connectors where ever two component faces align. The resulting local aggregation block is constructed from eight components that are attached on every-other face on the base component, then connected to an equally built half. This local geometry is a three-legged hexagonal ball, similar to a soccer ball, in which it distributes forces evenly.
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20.1 Step 1
20.2 Step 2
20.3 Step 3
20.4 Step 4
20.5 Step 5
20.6 Step 6
20.7 Step 7
20.8 Step 8
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
LOCAL PATTERNING VARIATIONS: Keeping the same variation from the single component, the local aggregation blocks have three variations ranging from a light-weight and low density block for the top of the aggregation to a very dense and structural block used in high compression zones.
21.1 Structural variation.
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21.2 Regular transitional variation.
21.3 Light-weight variation.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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LOCAL PATTERNING CONSTRUCTION: The only step in constructing the local aggregation blocks is to attach a local snap connector on both sides of a face-face component connection. With the use of these snaps, the local block will be able to withstand compression forces without deforming drastically.
22.1 Local aggregation adds an additional connector to attach two components together.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
FORCES AND REACTIONS: When a uniform compression load of 500 psi is applied to the three types of local blocks, a drastic variation in resulting displacement occurs. The most structural and dense block suffers little displacement, but the least structural and dense block gets crushed. This structural analysis further shows that the variation of the components must be applied in the proper locations as to not cause complete failure of the entire aggregation.
23.1 Variation one with 500 psi compression.
23.2 Variation two with 500 psi compression.
23.3 Variation three with 500 psi compression.
23.4 Variation one resulting displacement.
23.5 Variation two resulting displacement.
23.6 Variation three resulting displacement.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: The global connection is a simple plate in which is bent and folded in the center, and attached to the surfaces of two component faces when two local aggregation blocks connect.
24.1 Connecting plate secures local blocks together.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
GLOBAL PATTERNING:
25.1 Step 1
25.2 Step 2
25.3 Step 3
25.4 Step 4
25.5 Step 5
25.6 Step 6
25.7 Step 7
25.8 Step 8
25.9 Step 9
25.10 Step 10
25.11 Step 11
25.12 Step 12
25.13 Step 13
25.14 Step 14
25.15 Step 15
25.16 Step 16
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
The global aggregation of the assembly begins with three local blocks forming a trunk for which will fan out from the center whilst creating a play with the density of the blocks to inform a positive and negative relationship with light and shadow. The completed aggregation includes 111 local blocks, for a total of 888 components.
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GLOBAL PATTERNING CONSTRUCTION: The construction of the global aggregation is simple and only requires the addition of the plate connection to the aligning surface between local blocks. The aggregation will likely be assembled from the ground up adding one row at a time.
26.1 Connecting plate secures local blocks together.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
FINAL VIEWS: The final aggregation of the assembly creates a truncated hexagonal block sculpture, which when viewing from varying perspectives changes the assemblies opacity. This is seen in the elevation comparison of figures 27.2 and 27.3.
27.1 Top view.
27.2 Front elevation.
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27.3 Right-side elevation.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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FINAL VIEWS: With the construction of a scaled global model, an exploration for finding a function for the assembly resulted in an idea for which during the day, the assembly will provide shade, and during the night, the assembly would be illuminated to provide light.
28.1 Scaled vellum model.
28.2 Illumination at night.
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28.3 Provides shade during day.
William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
MATERIAL VARIATION ANALYSIS: With the expectation to build the assembly into full scale, a variety of material selections were explored and calculated to figure the overall cost of material for the aggregation. The top three materials are shown here, 1/8” plywood at $655.65, 1/8” Chipboard at $677.10, and 1/8” Acrylic at $6,264.00. With the estimated material cost, the two best options would be either plywood or chipboard. 29.1 1/8” Plywood
29.2 1/8” Chipboard
29.2 1/8” Acrylic
1/8” x 48” x 96” Sheets.
1/8” x 28” x 44” Sheets.
1/8” x 48” x 96” Sheets.
- $14.57 per sheet - 20 Components per sheet - 45 Sheets needed
- $3.05 per sheet - 4 Components per sheet - 222 Sheets needed
- $139.20 per sheet - 20 Components per sheet - 45 Sheets needed
Total Cost: $655.65
Total Cost: $677.10
Total Cost: $6,264.00
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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PROGRAM APPLICATIONS: With the goal of adding a program in mind, additional regional balls were added at the base to allow for seating possibilities. This addition could also take place at the top for a greater canopy, or for spanning arches connecting to one another.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
RE-ADDITION OF CROSS BRACING: After the midterm, the component was still quite unstable so the two versions of the original component, cross bracing and external faces, were combined into one component which resists compressional and torsional forces.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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NEW CONNECTIONS: LOCAL With this new component, a new local connection was necessary, this connection was where the central cross bracing meets the external faces. This connection is completed by the face pieces sliding into the cross bracing and locking into place with notches.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
NEW CONNECTIONS: REGIONAL The regional connection was planned to be completed with a bolt and nut system, but due to budget limitations a series of interlocking fingers were developed for the use of no hardware. However do to there only being a 3 axis CNC available this connection was impossible to fabricate with the complex angles involved. The end result connection is nailed together.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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NEW CONNECTIONS: GLOBAL The global connection was solved by a dovetail joint which the two components would rotate into place. This connection worked for the most part, until more than two regional balls needed to be connected, in this circumstance zip ties were used as a last minute fastener for the installation.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
MATERIAL DECISION: The final material selection was plywood. However the opportunity came up where we could process our own material if we were to use wheat-board. The material itself is aesthetically pleasing but its structural capabilities are questionable, so the decision to use both plywood and wheat-board was made. The plywood is used for the structural cross bracing while the wheat-board is used for the slide in face pieces.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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WHEAT-BOARD PROCESS: With the decision to use wheat-board, we had the opportunity to fabricate the material from scratch. This process began with grinding up straw bails and mixing a resin mixture in with it. This mixture was then heat pressed with the result becoming wheat-board.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
DOWNSIZED AGGREGATION: Unfortunately with our budget shrinking, the decision to downsize the global aggregation was made with the result becoming strictly a seating system.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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SEATING DETAIL: With this seating system, two regional balls would attach to a base ball creating a obtuse angle in which cushions would be added onto. With this seating result, the person sitting would be allowed to lean back onto either side.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
ASSEMBLY + PROCESS: The fabrication time to construct this project was massive to say the least. Taking our team two weeks to complete it in full. It began with cutting out the pieces on the CNC and laser cutter, then sanding away the flaws. Then the components were assembled, followed by the regional balls being nailed together. These regional balls were then transported from WSU up to Spokane for the installation. Once transported, the balls twisted into place and were ready for the seat cushions to be attached.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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FINAL VIEWS: The final render of the assembly shows it in an exterior context where park goers can come and relax as they please.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
FINAL VIEWS: The reality of the assembly is being displayed in an interior setting behind a closed off rope. This is due to unforeseen fabrication mistakes such as the use of zip ties to attach the base regional balls to the top assembly. Although overall for the first scale test of the project to be constructed it went together rather smoothly.
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CONCLUSIONS: With the new component variety and completed global aggregation, the project has solved many of the issues in which it was plagued with during the midterm. However, there are still a few problems which need to be ironed out with further development. Mainly fix the connection issues by possibly getting a seven-axis CNC to fabricate the finger joints the way they were intended. Explorations with additional aggregation possibilities are also planned to fit for lighting and smaller seat assemblies. All together the past year has resulted in an assembly which has achieved many of the goals in which originally set out to achieve. The only minor issues which remain, mainly the connections require newer fabrication techniques then are available at WSU currently.
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
THANK YOU Mary Jannita Ashley Irene Nandita Fernando Piya Kevin Jay Austin
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William Bilyeu | Emily Van Dyke
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