Fiberglass Material Study
Tubular Knitting: Composites Challenge / Spring 2018
Type/
Collaborative Material Fabrication Project
Members/
Yuheng Zhu, Xiaohang Yan, William Qian, Jingxin Yang, Jingjing Liu
Personal contribution includes the design development, fiberglass material fabrication, physical study models, material load bearing test, final model assembly.
This project is an independent study on the potential of fiberglass as a structural material, directed by the faculty of the Cornell Robotic Construction Lab (RCL). It won first place in the 2018 AIA/ACMA Composites in Architecture Design Challenge.
In contrast to the traditional fiberglass application process, “tubular knitting” studies from the textile/fabric industry, and utilizes an off-the-shelf knitting mechanism to perform Fiberglass rovings. Balloons are inserted temporarily to inflate the tubular knit. After resin impregnation, the balloons were deflated, leaving a cured structure with organic porosity, able to provide the support of wood at 1/10 the weight in a small stool demonstrator.
Fiberglass Fabrication Method
First Prototype
Second Prototype
