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A relief cutting method, or kerfing, is considered to create flexible freeform surfaces from relatively stiff and thick panels. The flexibility and moldability are achieved by introducing slender components within the panel, forming kerf patterns, and hence reducing the second moment and polar moment of an area of the solid panel. This paper presents a systematic study on the deformations of kerf unit-cells and of kerf panels. Two different kerf patterns, i.e., square and hexagon, with various cut densities are studied. The effects of different cutting density and kerf patterns on the stretching, bending, and twisting deformations are examined. Understanding the influence of kerf patterns and cut densities on various deformation mechanisms will guide the design of freeform complex shapes out of kerf panels. Experimental tests were performed on unit-cells under different boundary conditions, e.g., uniaxial and biaxial stretching and bending. The tests were also performed on kerf panels with different kerf patterns and varying cut densities. We used a nonlinear beam element in order to describe the deformations of the slender components within the kerf patterns. We compared the overall deformations in the kerf unit-cells and panels from the beam element model and experimental tests. Using the kerfing technique allows for generating flexible structures with complex geometries from mass-produced panels of standard shape and size. When using the kerfing method to achieve the desired surface topology, the stresses, strains, and displacements in the surface will depend on the kerf pattern, cut density, and constituent behavior.

After sufficient consideration for the proper balance between material and formal constraints, this chapter describes a pedagogical approach that transforms the education of future architects through a 'form-finding' method, allowing the material to accommodate itself to form and celebrate its own nature. To enhance pedagogical improvement of foundational studies in architecture and further explore this pedagogy based on form-finding in early design education, this chapter also presents the challenges to integrating materiality within the design process, as derived from the incorporation of experimental form-finding methods into early-stage design.

Kerfing is a subtractive manufacturing approach to create flexible freeform surfaces from stiff planar materials. The kerf structures are used in both indoor and outdoor architectures for wall paneling, outdoor façade and pavilion. In addition to their physical appeal, these structures have potential applications in tuning the dynamics responses in buildings, e.g., indoor acoustic, vibration suppression, etc. To exploit these novel applications of kerf structures, this paper presents a study on the dynamic responses of kerf structures made up of Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). MDF is a viscoelastic composite material comprising of wood fiber networks and epoxy. The influence of the material behavior, i.e. viscoelasticity of MDF is considered in determining the dynamic response of the kerf panels. Two kerf panels with similar kerfing pattern but different cut density and arrangement are studied for their modal responses. A 3D beam element is used to model the mechanical responses of the kerf panels. With the understanding of the dynamic response of these kerf panels, their applications in altering the indoor acoustics and the wind responses of the buildings can be better comprehended.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has had an enormous impact in the manufacturing sector. Its role has evolved from printing prototypes to manufacturing functional parts for a variety of applications in the automotive, aerospace, and medical industries. Recently, AM processes have also been applied in the infrastructure construction industry. Applications of AM processes could bring in significant improvements in infrastructure construction, specifically in the areas of productivity and safety. It is desirable to have a review on the current state of emerging AM processes for infrastructure construction as well as existing gaps in this field. This paper reviews AM processes in infrastructure construction. It discusses the process principle, application examples, and gaps for each of the AM processes.

3D printing processes have found several applications in automobile, aerospace, and biomedical industries. Recent development of large-scale 3D printing processes has fueled applications in the construction industry. Materials such as ceramic clay (porcelain) can now be used in additive manufacturing (AM). However, information regarding the effect of process parameters on part quality is limited. There is a need to study the effects of various parameters on the successful printing of samples for the construction industry. This paper presents an experimental study to determine the feasible parameter regions for extrusion-based 3D printing of porcelain using a Delta WASP 2040 Clay printer. The printing parameters studied are extruder height, layer thickness, print speed and air pressure. The effects of these parameters on the surface quality of the printed samples are examined. The identified feasible parameter regions from this study would provide preliminary insights on material extrusion-based 3D printing of porcelain.

Wood is a sustainable and attractive material with a venerable history of use in architectural construction and carpentry. It also has a promising and innovative future in architecture and design. The aim of our research is to reintroduce wood as a responsive and transformable material for use in novel adaptive architectural design. By combining a refurbished technique of wood-cutting known as kerfing with the use of a shape-memory polymer resin, we have created wood-based surfaces that can turn into precise curvilinear forms without incurring damage, and then self-transform to their original shape in response to environmental stimuli. We developed a temperature-based responsive polymer and a flexible, diamond-shaped kerfing pattern in our prototype testing and were able to achieve the desired results. This method enabled us to design and control the material and its behavior by taking advantage of the micro-scale resin polymer’s effects, combined with wood’s specifically cut geometry. In addition to demonstrating the possibilities of shape memory behavior for wood-based architecture, this prototype offers a practical technique that can be used by designers to create flexible and inexpensive wood-based fabrications on the required scale with compact storage and transportation alignments.

Medium densify fiberboard (MDF) is a composite comprising of wood fibers and epoxy resin, with a typical density range between 600-800 kg/m3. It is currently used for secondary structures in buildings such as architectural walls and facades. MDFs are typically available in flat panel forms which can be cut into various shapes for architectural design purposes. One cutting method is known as kerfing, in which a series of cuts are made on a wood panel to create flexible structures mainly through bending and twisting deformations. In this study, we present a micromechanics model of cut patterns in order to understand the overall deformations of the kerf panel. Three different cut densities, i.e., one, two, and three cuts per quarter unit-cell, of a square spiral pattern are studied. The effect of different cut densities on the uniaxial stretching of the unit-cell is examined. An experimental test is also done on a unit-cell under uniaxial stretching. The responses from the experiment and model are compared.

To explore the potential of a holistic pedagogical model that incorporates motion studies into existing curricular structures, the Pedagogy of Motion provides a methodical series of steps regarding the best methods for teaching the principles of transformable architecture. The development of this pedagogy could recast the architectural design process, transmuting the landscape of how we do architecture. As vehicles for examining the opportunities of this approach, two design studios1 in two schools of architecture at Virginia Tech and Texas A&M University were offered, occasioning theoretical overviews and practical methods for designing morphological changes in architecture.