Tailored Flexibility - Reinforcing concrete fabric formwork with 3D printed plastics

Abstract

The tailored flexibility project seeks to develop a construction system that combines flexible formwork with robotic 3D plastic printing resulting in novel approaches that expand the ranges of both techniques. Combining 3D printing and flexible formwork does not necessarily suggest a unified design space and the development depends on thorough interrogation and critical assessment of the physical intelligence that emerges between digital design, manufacturing processes and structural integrity. This paper describes the initial prototyping of compound material behaviour in formwork and concrete, following the implicit rationales revealed through iterations and variations of physical experimentation. Such iterative feedback from physical prototyping informs and facilitates a discussion of the relationship between the manufacturing process and the design tool: How does the ultimate function as concrete shuttering transform the 3D printing process and how does this transformation conversely affect the shuttering design? How does a hierarchy of involved processes emerge and which composite opportunities do the initial results suggest as a further development into a coherent construction system?