Reflective Journal Week 9: Understanding Digital Fabrication Material Testing/ Cost
Start of Week 9
1st of May, 2017
This week I wanted to understand how the digital fabrication team was working with their production in material testing. The reason behind this, was really because I was looking into costing for the project and it was essential to understand what materials were being tested, how were those materials being used and their benefits to our pavilion. Below are some of the expenses of each of the materials.
Material Options:
Bamboo:
120 cm — $6.45 (20 pieces)
150 cm — $5.98 (10 pieces)
180 cm — $7.40 (10 pieces)
Fabrics:
Nylon Spandex (82% Nylon, 18% Lycra) $10.50 (1.5 meters)
Latex (Standard Colors)
0.25 mm Thickness — $26 per meter
0.40 mm Thickness — $33 per meter
0.50 mm Thickness — $38 per meter
Sexy Jersey (83% Polyester, 12% Nylon, 5% Spandex) $7.85 (1.15 meters)
Adhesives:
Fiberglass Resin $12.09 / 250g
Wood Possibility: 70–20 mm $30.79
Timber Plywood: Yes
Metal: No
Material Testing
So the aim was to see if the latex made any curvature when stretched and attached to 3 mm plywood pieces. Above are the 8 patterns which the test were being performed on. Latex was stretched out and glued onto the 3 mm plywood, and slowly released from the 4 sides after letting the glue settle, giving it some form of curvature. What i realized while the test were being performed, that there were a lot of failures and some successes but more importantly each of the patterns reacted differently with the stretched latex. It was actually quite amazing to see the curvature within each of the patterns.
In Conclusion many different prices were searched and tested but the digital fabrication group found that latex worked a lot better in forming the curvature than nylon spandex.
There are 3 possible solutions at this stage which we are looking at in the construction stage. The first option where 120 x 45mm timber plywood is connected with each member of the pavilion to form a timber framing, followed by 3 mm plywood sheets nailed within each frame with a latex finish. This option is most resistant and durable although the cost is a lot higher. Second option is the 3 mm plywood sheets forming each of the members to form the structure with a latex finish, bending the plywood to form the structure and each section depending on the other for resistance. Third option which is similar to the 2nd is fiberglass and latex forming each of the members bolted with the joints to allow durability while depending on each member as resistance. Total cost of materials provided are excluding joining materials cost.
