Modelling is key to the design of structures. Beyond calculations, the construction of models is essential to the understanding of their behaviour, may be as important as experiments. Efficient modelling allows also for fast simulation and by there optimisation.
Constructability is mathematics, as well as structural efficiency. Theories and design methods, suited for structural engineering, must thus be developped, most specifically for the form-finding and morphogenesis of structures under constructibility constraints.
The appropriate choice of materials is central to good design. It requires knowledge of physics and chemistry, mechanics of materials, as well as life cycle analysis. Various studies are thus conducted herein targeted at structural engineering applications.
Applications of digital and robotic manufacturing to structural engineering will change radically the construction paradigm. Parametric design, vision and deep learning, robotics and automation open new ways of building, from concrete printing to freeform architecture.
[rev_slider Rockfall] Since 2016 Flexible rockfall barriers are protection works against risks of block falls. The principle of these structures consists in intercepting the block's trajectory and in dissipating its kinetic energy thanks to a wire net supported by steel cables connected by steel posts and dissipation systems to the cliff. [...]
Since 2015 The aim of this work is to show the potential of robotic fabrication and computer vision to autonomously assemble non-conventional masonry structures. Robotic fabrication of Abeille-like curved wall In our research we build Abeille-like curved wall where all [...]
Since 2016 Additive manufacturing of structures is an automated way of making complex constructive elements using robots : from innovative material to optimized structures. Being already used as a rapid prototyping technique in other industries, it is now available for the fabrication of final products. We explore the [...]
Since 2011 Coming soon Description of the research Coming soon People Olivier Baverel Lionel Du Peloux Baptiste Lefevre Frédéric Tayeb Institutions Laboratoire Navier Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées Ibois Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne [...]
The workshop confronts engineering and architecture students to the complexity of building doubly-curved structures.
The Ephemeral Cathedral of Créteil (Paris, France) is a gridshell structure made of composite materials. Built in 2013, this religious edifice of 350m2 is a temporary church meant to gather the parishioners during the two-years renovation of their permanent cathedral. This large-scale prototype represents a first in the building industry, which still shows excessive apprehension for the use of non-traditional materials such as composites, especially when it comes to structural applications. Based on a previous successful experience the gridshell was prefabricated and erected by the parishioners themselves.
