Developing algorithm aided fabrication methods for polyhedral structures

本研究的范围是促进制造感知的多流形多面体结构系统的设计，适用于建筑、汽车、航空、家具等行业的大、中规模。实现这一发展的主要步骤是创建一套强大的算法，能够同时处理结构优化和成本效益制造，同时保持用户的设计意图。该项目建立在PI之前的两个研究流的基础上，该研究流致力于通过互反多面体系统进行制造的网格分割和3D图形静力学，并将它们整合到一个计算框架中，致力于基于体积多面体网格的优化结构系统的设计和物质化，可由平板材料制成。该提案由多个任务组成，分为三个互补的重点。推力1提出了几种稳健的算法，用于对一般体积多面体网格进行合理化和分割，并通过离散化和展开来制造它们；推力2提出了对现有基于几何的结构寻形方法的扩展，以包括平面金属板的制造约束和对复杂定制体积结构的最佳形状确定过程的见解。推力3提出了基于板材的合理化、优化和制造方法的扩展，以板材为主导的混合结构。知识价值。目前，对于任何尺度的体积多面体网格，都没有通用的平板制造工作流程。此外，没有一种能够产生完全空间结构的结构寻形解决方案包含对平板材料的制造感知约束。本研究旨在解决这一差距，通过以下途径为生成结构设计和制造做出重要贡献：a)创造新的通用制造方法，用于使用折叠，仅使用金属板或金属板和线性元件的体积多面体系统。b)在结构形式寻找过程中引入制造意识约束，以实现结构的有效物化。更广泛的影响。这项研究的结果将为复杂、轻量化、高性能空间结构的高效、经济和生态物化开辟新的途径。这项研究将带来新的计算工具，以从铝等金属中构建空间结构，从而为加拿大的制造业以及相关的建筑行业带来新的相关性。它还将使该行业能够通过材料再利用和大幅减少新材料的使用来减少对环境的影响。

The scope of this research is to facilitate the design of fabrication-aware multi-manifold polyhedral structural systems applicable at the large and mezzo scale in industries like construction, automotive, aeronautics, furniture, and others. The principal step towards enabling this development is the creation of a robust set of algorithms able to simultaneously handle structural optimization and cost-effective fabrication while preserving user design intent. The proposed project builds upon two of PI's previous streams of research dedicated to mesh segmentation for fabrication and 3D graphic statics through reciprocal polyhedral systems and brings them together into a computational framework dedicated to the design and materialization of optimized structural systems based on volumetric polyhedral meshes, fabricable from flat sheet materials. The proposal consists of multiple tasks grouped into three complementary thrusts. Thrust 1 proposes the creation of several robust algorithms for the rationalization and segmentation of general volumetric polyhedral meshes with the scope of fabricating them through discretization and unfolding and Thrust 2 proposes the extension of existing geometry-based structural form-finding methods to include flat metal sheet fabrication constraints and insights in the process of optimal form determination for complex bespoke volumetric structures. Thrust 3 proposes the extension of sheet metal-based rationalization, optimization, and fabrication methods to sheet material dominant hybrid structures. Intellectual merit. Now no general flat-sheet fabrication workflows exist for volumetric polyhedral meshes at any scale. Furthermore, no structural form-finding solution able to produce fully spatial structures contains fabrication-aware constraints for flat sheet materialization. This research aims at addressing this gap by bringing important contributions to generative structural design and fabrication through a) The creation of new general method of fabrication for volumetric polyhedral systems using folding, sheet metal only or sheet-metal and linear elements. b) Introducing fabrication-aware constraints, in the process of structural form-finding for the efficient materialization of structures. Broader impacts. The result of this research will open new avenues towards the efficient, economic, and ecologic materialization of complex, lightweight, high-performance spatial structures. The research will bring about new computational instruments to construct spatial structures from metals like aluminium thus bringing new relevance to the manufacturing industry in Québec/Canada as well as to the connected construction industry. It will also enable the industry to reduce its environmental impact through material reuse and serious reductions in new material use.