AN INTEGRAL APPROACH TO STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION AND FABRICATION

Abstract

Integral structural optimization and fabrication seeks the synthesis of two original approaches: that of topological optimization (TO) and robotic hotwire cutting (HWC) (McGee 2011; Feringa 2011). TO allows for the reduction of up to 70 percent of the volume of concrete to support a given structure (Dombernowsky and Sondergaard 2011). A strength of the method is that it allows one to come up with structural designs that lie beyond the grasp of traditional means of design. A design space is a discretized volume, delimiting where the optimization will take place. The number of cells used to discretize the design space thus sets the resolution of the TO. While the approach of the application of TO as a constitutive design tool centers on structural aspects in the design phase (Xie 2010), this process yields structures that cannot be realized within a conventional budget. As such, the ensuing design is optimal in a narrow sense; while optimal structurally, construction can prove to be prohibitively expensive. This paper reports ongoing research efforts on the development of a cost-effective methodology for the realization of TO concrete structures using HWC.