Pneufin: A switchable foil cushion inspired soft pneumatic adaptive shading

Abstract

Switchable foil cushion which has lower actuation pneumatic pressure compared to other soft pneumatic adaptive system. This lower pressure should be advantageous against leakage. The actuation principle of switchable foil cushion was compared to other soft pneumatic adaptive systems and applied into Pneufin: a soft pneumatic adaptive external shading. The actuation and structural performance were analysed through 2D and 3D simulation, and experiments using full-scale prototypes. The prototypes could be actuated with pneumatic pressure less than 1 kPa. While the simulation shows that the wing angular rigidity of Pneufin could be controlled by its pneumatic pressure, the experiment showed that its effectiveness is greatly affected by the dimension of the middle layer membrane. Building energy simulation showed that the shading effectiveness on building energy and daylighting performance were affected by the shading adaptability. The study findings expand the further study and design development for Pneufin.