|Digital Matter
|Metaform
Chitosan as the future of water filtration system
|Team
Ankita Alessandra Bob , Antonios Nikitaras , Yara Tayoun
|Faculty
Areti Markopoulou, David Andres Leon, Raimund Krenmueller, Nikol Kirova
|Project year
2018-19
METAFORM delves into distributed actuation within a meta-material system to create an adaptive, reconfigurable structure with multiple stable states. By manipulating materials based on their structure rather than inherent properties, this approach enables control and manipulation of the material system’s behavior through minor design alterations, optimizing its mechanical performance. Drawing from recent advancements in material science and bio-mimicry, the research leverages nano-scale geometrical compositions, aiming for organic adaptability and enhanced efficiency in architectural applications.
The system incorporates an active bending principle consisting of rigid bodies with shifted elastic joints found in “KinetiX”, a research project describing a group of auxetic inspired material structures that can transform into various shapes upon compression.¹ Adaptive reconfigurable surfaces can be used in various applications from temporary kinetic structures to shape changing formworks for lightweight fiber structures
This research utilizes a component- based system able to propagate deformation from the actuation of a single component to the entire system, eliminating the need of multiple actuators, thus aiming towards a more efficient responsive structure.
The development of the component involved both additive and subtractive manufacturing processes. While the additive manufacturing (3d printing in this case) proved to be more efficient in terms of precision and detail, the time taken to produce one component is 120 times longer than its equivalent in subtractive manufacturing (CNC milling in this case). The latter however requires post production processes such as sanding and the slitting of the component faces to attach the joints.
The high-density polyurethane foam component is shaped using a 3-axis CNC machine to ensure lightweight design and improved propagation efficiency. Each foam piece undergoes center pocketing, reducing its weight while preserving structural integrity based on individual stress factors. Laser-cut polypropylene joints, with a total length of 50mm, secure neighboring components with 15mm wedged and glued on either side, resulting in a 30mm joint length between each element. Precise rotational incisions on the components are executed using a metal blade, guided by 3D printed caps fitted onto each component’s surface.
The process of scalability is tackled by insuring the structural stability of the actuated surface which can only be achieved by the use of a rigid lightweight material at component scale. Modifying the density of a grid of components allows for the configuration of a large spectrum of freeform surfaces obtained from a flat grid, with a restrained number of manual and or mechanical actuation, locally distributed along the grid.
METAFORM suggests a sustainable alternative solution to adaptability in architecture, offering an outlook on how we design, configure and fabricate freeform surfaces.
