Abstract
Embedded in a long tradition of craftsmanship, inside or outside building surfaces, is often treated with plaster, which plays both functional and ornamental roles. Today, plasterwork is predominantly produced through rationalized, time-, and cost-efficient processes, used for standardized building elements. These processes have also gained interest in the construction robotics field, and while such approaches target the direct automation of standardized plasterwork, they estrange themselves from the inherent qualities of this malleable material that are well known from the past. This research investigates the design potentials of robotic plaster spraying, proposing an adaptive, thin-layer vertical printing method for plasterwork that aims to introduce a digital craft through additive manufacturing. The presented work is an explorative study of a digitally controlled process that can be applied to broaden the design possibilities for the surfaces of building structures. It involves the spraying of multiple thin layers of plaster onto a vertical surface to create volumetric formations or patterns, without the use of any formwork or support structures. This article describes the experimental setup and the initial results of the data collection method involving systematic studies with physical testing, allowing to develop means to predict and visualize the complex-to-simulate material behavior, which might eventually enable to design with the plasticity of this material in a digital design tool.
Highlights
The inside or outside surfaces of building structures are often treated with materials such as cement, lime, or gypsum plaster that can have both functional and ornamental roles
Plasterwork is predominantly produced through rationalized, time, and cost-efficient processes, used for standardized building elements. These processes have gained interest in the construction robotics field, and while such approaches target the direct automation of standardized plasterwork, they estrange themselves from the inherent qualities of this malleable material that are well known from the past
The ornamental roles relate to the production of aesthetic qualities and variations to the surfaces of the built structure, this is often neglected in current practice, as described in Uber Putz: Oberflachen entwickeln und realisieren by Spiro et al.[1]
Summary
The inside or outside surfaces of building structures are often treated with materials such as cement, lime, or gypsum plaster that can have both functional and ornamental roles. The functional role is to protect the building structure, or to improve the acoustic performance and thermal properties. The ornamental roles relate to the production of aesthetic qualities and variations to the surfaces of the built structure, this is often neglected in current practice, as described in Uber Putz: Oberflachen entwickeln und realisieren by Spiro et al.[1] The application of plaster to interior walls and ceilings, as well as to facades, is a craft that requires specific tools, intuition, and a particular skill set. The challenges have been addressed by the construction robotics field and led to the early attempts in the 1990s to replace the manual plastering process with
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