advanced building skins 14 | 15 June 2012 - lamp.tugraz.at - Graz ...

Advanced Building Skins
4.3 Creation of Modular Component Systems for Freeform Geometries using Planar
Components
Modularizing freeform geometries into modular component systems result in deviations from the
original geometry. The more deviation is allowed the potential for creating modular component
systems arises. One current approach is to map a given geometry with a limited number of planar
components.
Figure 15: Origin
geometry with the
ideal curvature
Figure 16: Origin
geometry with 200 planar
triangles
- 9 -
Figure 17: Abstracted
geometry with 101
planar triangles
Figure 18: Abstracted
geometry with 21 planar
triangles
As figure 15 shows, a grid is projected from one direction of projection onto the geometry and the
geometry is subdivided correspondingly. If the surface is divided into planar triangles, 200 unique
triangles are needed (figure 16). Then the edges of the triangles were positioned in a vertical grid to
avoid later the fracturing of the surface. Next, two modular component systems with triangles are
determined. The modular component systems are defined by a section through a prism of a triangle.
The number of components of the modular system is based on the defined edges in the X direction
times the gradations in the Y direction. The large modular system has 399 and the small one has 43
components. Next, the area on the grid of the predetermined geometry is compared to the possible
previously defined components and replaced with the most similar component from the predefined
building blocks. In order to avoid extensive manual processing, a script has been programmed.
Depending on the size of the predefined modular component system, the original geometry is shown
nearly ideal or abstracted. The programmed script uses from the available modular component system
just the needed components. Figure 17 shows how the large modular component system (399 pieces)
was used to build the geometry with 101 different components. Similarly, figure 18 shows how the
small modular component system (43 pieces) was used to build the geometry with 21 different
components.
4.4 Future Prospects on New Approaches
Products manufactured with the technology of the CRC 666 are qualified excellently for the usage in
building skins. They fulfill the requirements of both structural and structural-physical properties. Due
to the technology of hydroforming of stringer sheets aesthetic requirements of non-planar surfacestructure
components are also met. Every freeform geometry can be modularized in a modular
component system by using digital tools. Due to this possibility the advantage of serial production can
be used in addition. Parametric and algorithmic based methods can improve modularization. This
includes, among other things, the ability to abstract an existing geometry by a modular component
system with a limited number of curved components. Another option in contrast is to already
incorporate these constraints into the geometry creation software. With software like this only such
freeforms can be generated which are suited for modularization.
Future investigations will include the question of how the flexibility of modules as well as module
connections limits the number of components of a modular component system.