HYBRID COLUMNS

Part of a prototype of a hybrid portal frame structure that takes advantage of the characteristics of wood, ceramics, concrete and steel to build a smarter construction system, the column prototype starts from a topological optimisation of the geometry of a conventional column to build the integrated formwork of two columns manufactured with two different extrusion processes: in ceramic and concrete.

Due to the inherent constraints of the ceramic 3D printing process (equipment working area, kiln size, component deformations during the curing and firing phase, etc.), the ceramic column is composed of 12 staves printed with a layer height of 1.5mm.

In an attempt to optimise the manufacturing process and speed to facilitate applications in real-world contexts, a variation made of concrete was developed. Without the same production constraints, the proposed new geometry for the integrated column formwork consists of only two printed segments (limited by transportability and on-site positioning capability) with a layer height of 10mm.

The joints between components were sealed and the central core was reinforced and concreted, with the printed components acting as formwork and cladding simultaneously. The columns were designed to integrate at their top the developed beam-column connection node.

RESEARCH TEAM

Paulo J. S. Cruz, Bruno Figueiredo (coordination); João Ribeiro, João Carvalho, António Morais, João M. Silva (design and development).