Abstract
In the context of acoustic performance in architecture, this paper presents research into the computational design and robotic fabrication of surfaces with micro-geometries that can change the acoustic response of space. It explores the design affordances for acoustically efficient patterns for sound scattering - between complex geometries, acoustical effects, and robotic fabrication. Spline curves pose a problem for the translation between geometry and material fabrication, specifically when a series of tests is required with a high degree of detail. Whereas 3D printed samples are impractically small, and CNC fabrication is limited by tool path axis, robotic fabrication enables precision for 1:10 scale model prototypes such as the quick sampling of sound discs that can be used to analyze acoustic scattering. Through a process of reverse engineering from parametric modeling to scale model production to physical simulation, the acoustic reflective properties of surface patterns are investigated for scattering coefficients, in order to derive statistical data on acoustic properties of these surfaces, and to deduce design rules.
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Notes
- 1.
flowl is a plug-in for McNeel Rhino/GH, used to visualize a vector field, generated trough positive and negative point charges, with path lines calculated with the “Runge-Kutta 4th Order Method” short “RK4” (by mathematicians Runge and Kutta 1900). Developed by uto, http://www.uto-lab.com and http://www.food4rhino.com/project/flowl.
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Acknowledgments
This project is part of an ongoing interdisciplinary research collaboration (Architecture and Audio & Acoustics into complex curved geometries and their acoustic behavior, undertaken at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney. Research assistance for coding of geometric patterns by Iain Blampied (2013/4) and Mitchell R Page (2015), for digital fabrication by Celeste Raanoja (2014), with acoustic behavior and sound measuring undertaken by James R Colla, Jesse H Loweke and David S O’Brien (2015). The research has been supported by a 2014 ECR SEED fund, and was produced at DMaF, The University of Sydney.
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Reinhardt, D., Cabrera, D., Jung, A., Watt, R. (2016). Towards a Micro Design of Acoustic Surfaces. In: Reinhardt, D., Saunders, R., Burry, J. (eds) Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26378-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26378-6_10
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