3D VECTOR-BASED GRAPHIC STATICS, COMPUTATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF 3D FORCE DIAGRAMS

CONTEXT Considerations on the correct management of resources, such as energy and materials, are crucial in the building context and require efficient structural conception. Graphical methods allow controlling the relationship between the shape of a structure and its inner stresses and they might be employed for the conception of new efficient structural forms. RESEARCH PROBLEM The amount of design-oriented tools for shaping the equilibrium of three-dimensional structures that are geometrically complex and combine both compressive and tensile elements is quite limited. Therefore, there is considerable interest in extending graphic statics to the third dimension, regarding both structural design and analysis. METHODS This research is about developing an approach to 3D graphic statics that is purely vector-based, from the theoretical bases to the development of its properties and its possible applications for structural morphogenesis. STEPS / FINDINGS Vector-based 3D graphic statics has been recently introduced as a possible extension of graphic statics to the third dimension. The theoretical bases of this new field of research were published during past years by a group of academics from ETH, EPFL & UCL, and specifically addressed in the paper: Vector-Based 3D Graphic Statics: a framework for the design of spatial structures based on the relation between form and forces. The main objectives of the research are: - Intuitive visual representation of forces in space using vectors; - Easy control of the inner forces in spatial structure with both compressive and tensile elements, allowing the adjustment of the forces separately; - Generation of novel structural forms in static equilibrium, by taking advantage of specific properties of the diagrams such as the possibility to subdivide the 3D force diagrams; - Dealing with 3D geometrical constraints and domains and development of applications related to them. The presentation in the research seminar will address specifically the issue of the computational implementation of the automatic assembly of 3D force diagrams