ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION

REPORT ON FORM-FINDING

Ph.D. VALENTINA SUMINI

GROUP N° 5
ANGELOVA, Monika
BITIK, Doga
CIHAN ALKAN, Mevlut
LICHOCIK, Krzysztof
MARTICORENA ANGELA, Valentina
MILENI MURAI, Marina
PEDRAZZINI, Stefano
 REPORT ON FORM-FINDING
FORM FINDING
ANGELOVA, M. | BITIK, D. | CIHAN ALKAN, M. | LICHOCIK, K. | MARTICORENA ANGELA, V. | MILENI MURAI, M. | PEDRAZZINI, S.
B D
INFLATABLE
C
CORE
A
CONNECTION
Figure 1. Graphic development of the different componets that form the shape.
INTRODUCTION
This paper presents one of the form-finding
and structural analysis that can be done in or-
der to optimize our designs either on the Moon
or on Mars.
The main purpose of this research is to analyse
the inflatable and the regolith structure of our
geometry. For this specific project we worked
on a design based on Mars. The graphic above
(Figure 1) shows the development of the diffe-
rent components that form our shape.
INFLATABLE MEMBRANE
For the inner core of our project we chose a
circle as starting point, since it is a symmetrical
and curved shape that would let us distribute
the pressurization evenly.
Following the form-finding in Kangaroo, the
first goal was to achieve a regular and uni-
form mesh from Karamba 3D and create our
model. In order to generate the model, many
inputs were required: a) Element; b) Support;
c) Loads; d) Cross Section; e) Material.
Once we defined all these elements, we arri-
ved to our first model. At this point, we were
lacking a second-order analysis, “Large Defor-
Figure 2. Shape growth from mesh to pressurized model.
E F
REGOLITH SHIELD AIRLOCK SHIELDING FINAL FORM
mation Analysis”, where we set our maximum
displacement at 11 mts. (three to four floors).
By doing this, the shape grew until it reached
this value.
MEMBRANE’S BEHAVIOUR 5
This analysis is probably one of the most useful
and interesting of the entire process. “Analyze”
from Karamba3D allowed us to understand the
membrane’s behavior (stress lines and material
constraints) by calculating its deflections.
I) II)
III) IV)
Figure 3. I) Utilization; II) Displacement; III) Principal
Stress; IV) Stress lines.
Overall, since we started with a round shape,
the output did not suffer major stresses. Howe-
ver, we could have improved the material utili-
zation by lowering the maximum displacement
to restrict the deformation near the ground.
REGOLITH STRUCTURE
Regarding the regolith structure, the initial con-
cept was to design a shell that would embrace
the inflatable membrane and also connect it
through airlocks with other cells.
As we changed the input geometry, the result
dramatically changed when it came to stress
lines. In fact, the stress lines analysis gave us
2
Figure 4. Structural analysis regolith structure. Figure 5. Stress lines.

a better understanding of how the overall geo-
metry worked than the utilization and stress
maps. Moreover, we understood that the higher
material requirement was in the corners of our
geometry.
CONCLUSION
In this paper we summarized the exploration
process in form-finding and structural analyisis
of a basic geometry. Even though we did not
arrive at the expected result, it was useful in or-
der to get a clear understanding of this method
and internalize its procedure.
It is undeniable that by choosing a regular sha-
pe, the geometry behaves in an uniform way,
working collaboratively with the materials.
Nevertheless, when using materials as regolith
which does not require an internal pressuriza-
tion, we have more freedom to explore in its
form-finding. For the inflatable module we ra-
ther keep a regular and symmetric geometry to
optimize its pressurization.

REFERENCES
1. Sumini, V., Rossi, M. (2021). Architecture for Human Space Exploration. Form-finding. Kangaroo.
Politecnico di Milano.
2. Sumini, V. (2021). Architecture for Human Space Exploration. Structural analysis. Karamba3D.
Politecnico di Milano.