Structural Optimization through Biomimetic-Inspired Material-Specific Application of Plant-Based Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRP) for Future Sustainable Lightweight Architecture

Timo Sippach; Hanaa Dahy; Kai Uhlig; Benjamin Grisin; Stefan Carosella; Peter Middendorf

doi:10.3390/polym12123048

Structural Optimization through Biomimetic-Inspired Material-Specific Application of Plant-Based Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRP) for Future Sustainable Lightweight Architecture

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Dec 19;12(12):3048. doi: 10.3390/polym12123048.

Authors

Timo Sippach¹, Hanaa Dahy^{2

3

4}, Kai Uhlig⁵, Benjamin Grisin⁶, Stefan Carosella⁶, Peter Middendorf⁶

Affiliations

¹ Integrative Computational Design and Construction (IntCDC), Cluster of Excellence, University of Stuttgart, Keplerstr. 11, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany.
² BioMat Department, Bio-Based Materials and Materials Cycles in Architecture, Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), University of Stuttgart, Keplerstr. 11, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany.
³ Department of Architecture (FEDA), Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11517, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Planning, Technical Faculty of IT & Design, Aalborg University, 2450 Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁵ Mechanics and Composites Department, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Str. 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Aircraft Design (IFB), University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 31, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.

Abstract

Under normal conditions, the cross-sections of reinforced concrete in classic skeleton construction systems are often only partially loaded. This contributes to non-sustainable construction solutions due to an excess of material use. Novel cross-disciplinary workflows linking architects, engineers, material scientists and manufacturers could offer alternative means for more sustainable architectural applications with extra lightweight solutions. Through material-specific use of plant-based Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRP), also named Biocomposites, a high-performance lightweight structure with topology optimized cross-sections has been here developed. The closed life cycle of NFRPs promotes sustainability in construction through energy recovery of the quickly generative biomass-based materials. The cooperative design resulted in a development that were verified through a 1:10 demonstrator, whose fibrous morphology was defined by biomimetically-inspired orthotropic tectonics, generated with by the fiber path optimization software tools, namely EdoStructure and EdoPath in combination with the appliance of the digital additive manufacturing technique: Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP).

Keywords: architectural lightweight structure; biocomposites; biomimetics; flax fiber; high-performance structure; material-appropriate design; natural fiber reinforced polymer composites NFRP; sustainable architecture; tailored fiber placement; topology optimization.