Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing

Jan-Frederik Flor; Yanyi Sun; Paolo Beccarrelli; Yupeng Wu; John Chilton

Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing

Jan-Frederik Flor
, Yanyi Sun
, Paolo Beccarrelli
, Yupeng Wu
, John Chilton

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

Adaptive façade systems have the potential for saving energy and enhancing comfort conditions in buildings. Creating working models with materials, components and functions which embody the design idea of a responsive building envelope is an important part of the design process of these systems, because it allows the performance to be demonstrated and tested under realistic conditions and for difficulties to be detected in advance. This paper reports on the process of building and programming a functional model of a switchable ETFE cushion for preliminary performance tests. Different techniques of reverse engineering and prototyping were explored on a range of scales to build the membrane structure and its pneumatic control system. The study showcases the inter-link of advanced manufacturing techniques and parametric design software, the application of microcontrollers, actuators and sensors in combination with the building envelope. The paper further documents and theorizes the process from design to making and testing, outlining a practical workflow for the development and prototyping of adaptive building envelopes for energy efficient buildings.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 7 Oct 2019
Event	International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures: Structural Membranes 2019 - Barcelona, Spain. Duration: 7 Oct 2019 → 10 Oct 2019

Conference

Conference	International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures: Structural Membranes 2019
Period	7/10/19 → 10/10/19

Bibliographical note

Note: Published in: C. Lázaro, K.-U. Bletzinger, E. Oñate (eds.) (2019) Form and Force: Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2019 -Structural Membranes. Madrid, Spain : International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS)

This work was supported by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham through a PhD studentship awarded to Jan-Frederik Flor

Organising Body: International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS)

Keywords

ETFE
adaptive building envelope
prototyping
testing
Civil engineering

Access to Document

https://congress.cimne.com/formandforce2019/admin/files/fileabstract/a480.pdf

1 Conference contribution

Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing
Flor, J.-F., Sun, Y., Beccarelli, P., Wu, Y. & Chilton, J., Oct 2019, Published in: C. Lázaro, K.-U. Bletzinger, E. Oñate (eds.) (2019) Form and Force: Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2019 -Structural Membranes. Madrid, Spain : International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) This work was supported by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham through a PhD studentship awarded to Jan-Frederik Flor Organising Body: International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS) Organising Body: International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS). (Form and force).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Cite this

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title = "Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing",

abstract = "Adaptive fa{\c c}ade systems have the potential for saving energy and enhancing comfort conditions in buildings. Creating working models with materials, components and functions which embody the design idea of a responsive building envelope is an important part of the design process of these systems, because it allows the performance to be demonstrated and tested under realistic conditions and for difficulties to be detected in advance. This paper reports on the process of building and programming a functional model of a switchable ETFE cushion for preliminary performance tests. Different techniques of reverse engineering and prototyping were explored on a range of scales to build the membrane structure and its pneumatic control system. The study showcases the inter-link of advanced manufacturing techniques and parametric design software, the application of microcontrollers, actuators and sensors in combination with the building envelope. The paper further documents and theorizes the process from design to making and testing, outlining a practical workflow for the development and prototyping of adaptive building envelopes for energy efficient buildings.",

keywords = "ETFE, adaptive building envelope, prototyping, testing, Civil engineering",

author = "Jan-Frederik Flor and Yanyi Sun and Paolo Beccarrelli and Yupeng Wu and John Chilton",

note = "Note: Published in: C. L{\'a}zaro, K.-U. Bletzinger, E. O{\~n}ate (eds.) (2019) Form and Force: Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2019 -Structural Membranes. Madrid, Spain : International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) This work was supported by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham through a PhD studentship awarded to Jan-Frederik Flor Organising Body: International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS); International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures: Structural Membranes 2019 ; Conference date: 07-10-2019 Through 10-10-2019",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

day = "7",

language = "English",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - Switchable ETFE cushion

T2 - International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures: Structural Membranes 2019

AU - Flor, Jan-Frederik

AU - Sun, Yanyi

AU - Beccarrelli, Paolo

AU - Wu, Yupeng

AU - Chilton, John

N1 - Note: Published in: C. Lázaro, K.-U. Bletzinger, E. Oñate (eds.) (2019) Form and Force: Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2019 -Structural Membranes. Madrid, Spain : International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) This work was supported by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham through a PhD studentship awarded to Jan-Frederik Flor Organising Body: International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS)

PY - 2019/10/7

Y1 - 2019/10/7

N2 - Adaptive façade systems have the potential for saving energy and enhancing comfort conditions in buildings. Creating working models with materials, components and functions which embody the design idea of a responsive building envelope is an important part of the design process of these systems, because it allows the performance to be demonstrated and tested under realistic conditions and for difficulties to be detected in advance. This paper reports on the process of building and programming a functional model of a switchable ETFE cushion for preliminary performance tests. Different techniques of reverse engineering and prototyping were explored on a range of scales to build the membrane structure and its pneumatic control system. The study showcases the inter-link of advanced manufacturing techniques and parametric design software, the application of microcontrollers, actuators and sensors in combination with the building envelope. The paper further documents and theorizes the process from design to making and testing, outlining a practical workflow for the development and prototyping of adaptive building envelopes for energy efficient buildings.

AB - Adaptive façade systems have the potential for saving energy and enhancing comfort conditions in buildings. Creating working models with materials, components and functions which embody the design idea of a responsive building envelope is an important part of the design process of these systems, because it allows the performance to be demonstrated and tested under realistic conditions and for difficulties to be detected in advance. This paper reports on the process of building and programming a functional model of a switchable ETFE cushion for preliminary performance tests. Different techniques of reverse engineering and prototyping were explored on a range of scales to build the membrane structure and its pneumatic control system. The study showcases the inter-link of advanced manufacturing techniques and parametric design software, the application of microcontrollers, actuators and sensors in combination with the building envelope. The paper further documents and theorizes the process from design to making and testing, outlining a practical workflow for the development and prototyping of adaptive building envelopes for energy efficient buildings.

KW - ETFE

KW - adaptive building envelope

KW - prototyping

KW - testing

KW - Civil engineering

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 7 October 2019 through 10 October 2019

ER -

Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Switchable ETFE cushion: designing and building a model for experimental testing

Cite this