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Computational Design and Fabrication of a Bending-Active Structure Using Fiberglass: A Bioinspired Pavilion Mimicking Marine Microorganism Radiolaria

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Abstract

Bio-inspired architectural designs are often superior for their aesthetics and structural performance. Mimicking forms and loading states of a biological structure is complex as it requires a delicate balance among geometry, material properties, and interacting forces. The goal of this work is to design a biomimetic, ultra-lightweight, bending-active structure utilizing an informed integral design approach, and thereby constructing a self-supporting cellular pavilion. A bioinspired pavilion has been designed and constructed based on the natural cellular organization observed in Radiolaria, a deep-sea microorganism. The cellularity was mimicked via Voronoi tessellation in the structure of the pavilion, whose structural performance was evaluated using finite element analysis. Accordingly, funicular structure design strategies were studied with a focus on cellular distributions and concentration responding to areas with high structural stress. The computer aided custom designed pavilion was constructed with engineered, in-house fabricated fiberglass composite materials. The bending-active lightweight structure was also validated through material performance inquiry, a partial full-scale cellular assembly, and the full-size pavilion construction. This work contributes to the design approach comprising a bending-active form-finding schematic strategy to construct the elastic bending-active structure physically and simulate computationally within the context of nature inspired innovative lightweight structure design.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the team of students who worked on this project: Quoc Dang, Jesse Heath, Sami Jaber, Son Nguyen, Catherine Reaux, Olivia Welty, and Professor Corey Saft, as well as the support of Dr. Charles Taylor, Dr. Jacob King and Yasmeen Qudsi on waterjet cutting. The authors acknowledge the support provided by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the College of the Arts, and by MAO.JIN.DAO Design.

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  1. School of Architecture and Design, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, 70503, USA

    Bosheng Liu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, 70503, USA

    Tanvir R. Faisal

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Correspondence to Tanvir R. Faisal.

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Liu, B., Faisal, T.R. Computational Design and Fabrication of a Bending-Active Structure Using Fiberglass: A Bioinspired Pavilion Mimicking Marine Microorganism Radiolaria. J Bionic Eng 19, 471–482 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-021-00150-4

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