Digital to physical development of a reconfigurable modular formwork for concrete casting and assembling of a shell structure

Abstract

This paper demonstrates an integrated computational design and fabrication workflow, implemented in actual construction scale, in order to test its feasibility towards a productive and customizable manufacturing process. The project suggests the computational development and the semi-automated fabrication of a free-form shell structure that consists of customized concrete members. The development process is based on two pillars of investigation that are bi-directionally connected; the computational design optimization and the fabrication. The first part of investigation refers to the form-finding of the overall shell structure, as well as its structural members by using topology optimization principles. The second part deals with the development of a reconfigurable modular formwork, which adapts to all shape alternations of the structural components, enabling their effective fabrication by using a single mechanism. Within this framework, decisions taken in the optimization stage are evaluated based on limitations and potentials of the suggested formwork, whose reconfigurability influences fabrication outcomes and vice versa. • Review on computational design optimization and real scale fabrication • Reconfigurable formwork development for concrete casting of customized elements • Strategy for computational design of shell structures based on topology optimization • Evaluation of structural efficiency and material minimization • Structural elements prototyping to validate the suggested workflow