Modular Fibrous Morphologies: Computational Design, Simulation and Fabrication of Differentiated Fibre Composite Building Components

The paper presents a bottom-up design process based on the transfer of biomimetic design principles and digital fabrication strategies for modular fibre-based structures, as demonstrated on a full-scale prototype pavilion. Following the analysis of the structural principles of the beetle elytra, the material differentiation and the morphologic principles of the biological role model are transferred into design and fabrication strategies. Simultaneously, developments of a coreless robotic winding method for glass and carbon fibre reinforced composite elements are incorporated into the design process. The computational set-up developed for the entire workflow is presented, showing the integration of structural analysis with digital simulation, which enables the automatic generation of the robotic winding syntax for individually differentiated components. The investigations, simulation, fabrication and assembly process, which led to the realisation of a highly efficient lightweight architectural prototype, are explained in the current paper.