|Digital Matter
|Fibre Tangled
Chitosan as the future of water filtration system
|Team
Saurabh Singla, Aditya Mandlik, Nareh Khaloian, Akshay Mhamunkar.
|Faculty
Areti Markopoulou, David Andres Leon, Raimund Krenmueller, Nikol Kirova
|Project year
2019-20
The project, Fiber Tangled addresses the environmental impact of permanent structures by focusing on the non-reuse of materials and their contribution to carbon footprint. It explores the use of non-woven natural fibers and bio-based binders for rapid, on-site construction of cost-effective tensile membrane structures. This approach supports both high and low-tech collaboration between humans and machines. The chosen technique, spraying, offers a swift and budget-friendly method to aggregate fibers with a bio-binder, creating a rigid membrane on-site and significantly reducing construction time.
The aim of the project is to explore the possibilities and limitations of spraying non-woven natural fibers and bio-based binder composite for rapid on-site construction of low-cost and temporary membrane structures. The project endorses human-machine collaboration both with high and low tech fabrication agents.
The fiber-binder composite is sprayed on a substructure that can be built on-site or prefabricated and installed during the construction process. The technique is scalable and can be used in various scales depending on the function, which also relates to the technology involved in the construction process, as the complexity of the structure or the scale, high tech fabrication systems using aerial flying machines and/or mixed reality are established to ease the construction, the construction could also be done by a human carrying a backpack with a specific kit of materials.
A comprehensive series of experiments and simulations were conducted to gain insights into the behavior of fibers and to optimize their utilization. This study involved the utilization of three distinct fiber lengths. The longest fibers, nearly matching the frame’s dimensions, were employed to establish structural integrity. Medium-length fibers, approximately half the frame’s size, were utilized to enhance density. Lastly, the shortest fibers were employed to fill gaps, ensuring the desired level of density and strength. This approach was implemented to effectively minimize fiber wastage.
