Design Systems for Closing Gaps with Rheotomic Surfaces and Allometry

Abstract

This study aims to present a material based, second order design method that makes the rapid creation of bridging structures in order to connect two or more horizontal planes which are currently separated and three design instances created via such method. The first element of the presented method is a generative system that creates circulation surfaces through the interpolation of the curves defined on the current surfaces, and also creates the structural volumes via rheotomic (minimal) surfaces. The second constituent is the instantiation of the exposed variable, connected to a displacement algorithm inspired by allometry based on user input, contextual data, or simulation results. The method was created with applicability through additive manufacturing in consideration. The design process - similar to manufacturing - proceeds in a vertical manner, in order to reduce the generation of support geometry as much as possible. The system includes a raster data input viable for simulation results, feeding the accumulation variable in order to modify material amount or quality with the aim of improving structural performance where stress is greater. Through the application of the method, three physical models which connect different horizontal planes were obtained. The models can be evaluated with digital of physical simulations, and results can be utilized in an iterative manner, improving the results by each recursion.