Designing architectural materials: from granular form to functional granular material

Abstract

Designed granular materials are a novel class of architectural material system. Following one of the key paradigms of designed matter, material form and material function are closely interrelated in these systems. In this context, the article aims to contribute a parametric particle design model as an interface for this interrelation. A granular material is understood as an aggregation of large numbers of individual particles between which only short-range repulsive contact forces are acting. Granular materials are highly pertinent material systems for architecture. Due to the fact that they can act both as a solid and a liquid, they can be recycled and reconfigured multiple times and are thus highly sustainable. Designed granular materials have the added potential that the function of the granular material can be calibrated through the definition of the particles’ form. Research on the design of granular materials in architecture is nascent. In physics they have been explored mainly with respect to different particle shapes. However, no coherent parametric particle design model of designed particle shapes for granular material systems in architecture has yet been established which considers both fabrication constraints and simulation requirements. The parametric particle design model proposed in this article has been based on a design system which has been developed through feasibility tests and simulations conducted in research and teaching. Based on this design system the parametric particle design model is developed integrating both fabrication constraints for architecture-scale particle systems and the geometric requirements of established simulation methods for granular materials. Initially the design system and related feasibility tests are presented. The parametric particle design model resulting from that is then described in detail. Directions of further research are discussed especially with respect to the integration of the parametric particle design model in ‘inverse’ design methods.

Universal Jamming Gripper: Experimental Analysis on Envelope and Granular Materials

“…These particles' size order of magnitude may vary between micrometers (coffee grounds when packed) to meters (rock jetties). Jaeger [26] reviewed the scope of application of the jamming effect and summa-rized it in three major fields: architecture [27], energy dissipation, and soft robotics. On the other hand, soft robotics is the group of actuators based on biology that replicates soft bodies with variable stiffness.…”

The role of particle shape in computational modelling of granular matter

“…An example application is aleatory architecture 21 . DEM has been widely used for aggregations of such designed-shape particles to achieve tunable mechanical properties 20 and to serve in applications including architectural construction 22 . The design and testing of specially shaped nanoparticles and colloidal particles have become an emerging technology for creating functional nanostructures 23,24 or smart materials via processes such as reversible assembly 25 and magnetic assembly 26 .…”

Special issue: bioinspired architectural and architected materials

“…If the particles have non-convex shapes they will entangle and reach topological interlocking. The contribution by Dierichs and Menges [10] shows how the assembly of particles can actually be used to design reconfigurable granular building elements at an architectural scale. Further, Thomsen and Tamke [11] report on bio-design as a material practice that challenges the paradigm of stability and predictability in architecture by exploring the heterogeneity of designed, harvested and living materials as a positive attribution for properties and performance.…”