Natural Fibre Structures

METHODS TO DESIGN, FABRICATE AND MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NOVEL LOAD-BEARING COMPONENTS FROM NATURAL FIBRE MATERIALS AS RESOURCE-EFFICIENT, DIGITALLY PRODUCED FIBRE COMPOSITE SYSTEMS: PROJECT LIVMATS PAVILION

The aim of this project is to develop methods for the design, manufacture and monitoring of the first-time application of natural fibre composites in a robotic coreless winding process for the production of load-bearing components. These methods will be applied in the context of a large-scale demonstrator project, the “livMatS Pavilion” at the Botanical Garden in Freiburg.

Methods for the design, simulation and fabrication of lightweight fibre composite structures have been previously developed by the Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) and have been applied in a number of successful demonstrator buildings to demonstrate the possibilities of digital technologies as the future of construction. These experimental lightweight structures were designed computationally and manufactured robotically using synthetically produced fibre composite materials.

The main focus of the current project is to transfer these principles to construction with natural fibres from renewable resources, in particular continuously spun flax fibres. This will enable a differentiated and adaptable, but also resource-efficient and sustainable construction method. In addition to the adaptation of the robotic fabrication process and the development of new methods for the design and evaluation of these novel material structures, a key challenge for the application of natural fibres in construction is their durability under environmental conditions, especially humidity and UV radiation. A thorough analysis of the mechanical properties and ageing effects under environmental conditions is therefore essential for the future application of this construction method.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Prof. Achim Menges
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers
Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), University of Stuttgart

RESEARCHERS

Dr.-Ing. Marta Gil Pérez (ITKE)
Tzu-Ying Chen (ITKE)
Christoph Schlopschnat (ICD)
Katja Rinderspacher (ICD)

PARTNERS

Albert‐Ludwigs‐Universität Freiburg, Cluster of Excellence “Living, Adaptive and Energy‐Autonomous Material Systems”

Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rühe, Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck

FibR GmbH, Stuttgart – Moritz Dörstelmann, Ondrej Kyjanek, Philipp Essers, Philipp Gülke

FUNDING

DBU Projektförderung – AZ 37101/01-25