Interactive Structural Analysis and Form-Finding

Abstract

This thesis re-approaches structural engineering through an interactive perspective by introducing a series of tools that concatenate parametric design with structural analysis, thus achieving interoperability between the architectural shape and its structural performance. Furthermore, this research demonstrates how the design can be realised into an efficient structural form by applying novel techniques of form-finding through the exploitation of the created tools. Two new approaches are developed in this thesis. The first approach uses a 2D truss and a free form surface and combines Parametric Design with Structural Analysis by using computer programming to establish a common interactive framework. The second approach utilises the generated framework to apply techniques of form-finding to structural shapes. The 2D truss is form-found to respond to parametric user defined constraints and an efficient grid structure is applied on a free form surface by following the directions of the principal stresses that occur from its structural analysis. The generated output is applied on a real design project and its structural efficiency is compared with structures created using conventional techniques.

Date of Award	17 Feb 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Paul Richens (Supervisor) & Paul Shepherd (Supervisor)