191

<<
3.6 Exploring Materials Reciprocities for Textile-Hybrid Systems as Spacial Structures
methods and aspects of textile hybrid system are documented, the integration is far more
fuid and reactive. While physical form-fnding offers information in topology, behaviour
and geometry, fnite element analysis offers controls for geometric variation through
manipulation of structural and material characteristics. Such reconfguring is then confrmed
and re-explored in physical form-fnding. The genesis of a formal concept often emerges
through the physical modelling experiments, yet exploration and testing of that concept
happens more adeptly and expediently through a computational environment. In this case,
the springs-based simulation offers means of generation, modelling and manipulation,
effciently studying variation at grand and/or minute degrees. As means of approximating
behaviour, information is sourced from the physical explorations and later transferred into
fnite element analysis. The fdelity of the collective process is grounded in the feedback
and interchange between these critical modes of design.
Fig 3.6.2 Diagram showing the relationships between exemplars,
modes of design, and critical aspects of textile hybrid systems.
(Image: Sean Ahlquist)
192
<<
3.6 Exploring Materials Reciprocities for Textile-Hybrid Systems as Spacial Structures
Physical form-fnding offers the most direct feedback of behaviour through modelling
with GFRP rods and textiles. In design scenarios where the rod cross-sections and textile
make-up are homogenous, the geometry produced by the behaviour of the physical model
is generally scalable. As with any physical modelling effort, the pursuit of variation from
a fundamental strategy is exhaustive. A springs-based modelling environment serves
to bridge this moment from the single design instance to an examination of a feld of
possibilities. The modelling environment, in this research, is developed in Processing (Java)
implementing generative algorithms for topology creation and vector-based methods
for solving behaviours of tension and bending resistance (Ahlquist and Menges 2010).
vi
This mode serves to provide an avenue by which behaviours can be actively modelled
and manipulated (Kilian and Ochsendorf 2005).
vii
Yet also as an accessible programming
environment, certain learned behaviours, ones that become critical and possibly re-iterated
through a specifc design series, can be encoded and automatically re-deployed within the
environment. With this capability, simple behaviours can quickly grow into increasingly
complex assemblies. This particular vehicle for design exploration is built for expediency
where the springs use relative values of force between the different behaviours. Bridging
to the calculation of specifc scaled behaviour and material defnition, the fnite element
analysis considers topology as a fxed input yet explores geometry as a variable result of
force and material coordination. Once the topology is set, FEA then offers the possibility of
precisely describing the mechanical behaviour, reaching from the simulation of the erection
process to the performance under external loads (Lienhard, Alpermann, Gegnagel, and
Knippers 2012).
viii
The form-found model furthermore offers the possibility of re-abstracting
the geometry by unrolling, or patterning, both beam and membrane elements for production
data. Each component of the design process is often a predecessor and an antecedent to
the other modes when executing the entirety of the iterative design framework.