Biomimetic Topology Optimization and Robotic Fabrication of 3D-Printed High-Performance Construction Systems

Abstract

Current conventional construction methods contribute to a significant amount of waste, which has major negative financial and environmental impacts. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers faster, safer, cost effective, and environmentally sustainable construction systems as a future alternative to the current conventional methods. Furthermore, the potential application of AM in construction has expanded significantly in recent years but has been limited to small scale prototypes. The recent development of computational form-finding and AM has broadened the opportunity for extensive exploration into the design of highly-efficient structural systems. The research presented in this paper investigates the potential to which topology optimization and AM can be used to extend the boundaries of the design of high-performance construction systems. This process builds up material only in areas of high stress based on biomimetic principles found in nature, maximizing structural performance while minimizing weight. The proposed robotically controlled additive manufacturing and computational design platform will revolutionize the construction industry by developing new processes to design and fabricate full-scale high-performance 3D – printed building components. The results of the new proposed technology will be the first step toward a novel, fully integrated robotic fabrication approach to construction driven by the material economy of net-zero carbon smart building components.