Mimendi Cruz, Jose Leonel (2021) Digital workflow for the design, construction and management of natural bamboo pole structures. PhD thesis, University College London, UK.
Abstract
The ever-growing global urbanisation has been lately associated with a negative environmental impact caused by the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions that the building industry has been responsible for. To turn the tide, the building industry needs to transition from industrialised, non-renewable materials, to natural, sustainable and renewable ones. Bamboo poles are currently the most promising resource due to their relatively good environmental credentials, in comparison with industrialised materials. However, there are significant technical challenges that have prevented bamboo poles from their formal integration into the building industry. One of the main challenges is associated with the inherent variability of the geometric, physical and mechanical properties and the impact that this produces on the reliability of bamboo structures. This research focuses on the development of a digital workflow that tackles the inherent variability of bamboo poles through the quantification of material properties on every single pole and thus, provides the fundamental basis to ensure structural reliability. Reverse engineering methodologies supported by modern digital technologies, such as 3D scanners and robotic fabrication, were developed to intensively measure the geometric, physical and mechanical properties of a stock of bamboo poles, regardless their species, age or size. These methodologies were then integrated and implemented into a proof-of-concept digital workflow that quantifies the variability and uses the resulting data to design and construct a reciprocal frame bamboo structure. This research sets out the initial steps towards an alternative approach that allows the design and construction of reliable bamboo structures through the management of their digital data, which in turn, will allow bamboo poles to competing with industrialised construction materials.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | mechanical property, material property, carbon dioxide emission, renewable material, digital technology, workflow, industrialized construction, methodology, integration, environmental impact, urbanization, quantification, bamboo, structural reliability, fabrication, variability, energy consumption, building industry, design and construction |
| Subjects: | manufacturing engineering, research methods, contractual arrangements, urban planning, environmental impact, reliability engineering, climate science, construction type, industry analysis, statistical analysis, organizational analysis, measurement and scaling, material properties and characteristics, management, traditional and composite building materials, energy systems, building materials, computing systems |
| Topics: | Procurement, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Construction Technology, Governance, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Construction Materials |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here