ZIP-BENT PROTOTYPE
ZIP-BENT © CREATE
Design and Development of Zip-bent Wood Prototype
Zip-Bent is a temporary installation that demonstrates the geometric potential of programmed bending with LVL battens. A full-scale demonstrator made of 72 meters of zip-bent structural elements was installed in a courtyard of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The realized prototypes have been 3D scanned and the deviation from the initial 3D model has been measured.
The prototype features six zip-bent curved beams that have been designed as cylindrical geodesic stripes with varying bending radii and fabricated from LVL battens. After the form-finding process, the generated zip-bent beams have undergone geometric construction of a zipping pattern, after which the zippered stripes are unrolled into flat elements ready to be robotically fabricated using a KUKA KR240 R3330 industrial robot equipped, moving along a six meters long linear unit which allows it to process lengthy wood battens. Two end-effector tools are used to process these elements: a circular saw blade and a flat-end milling bit, to perform linear cutting and milling operations respectively.
Robotic zip-bending is a method to curve straight wood elements based on the principle of kerfing where a pattern of cuts is made on a planar material to make it flexible. The methodology is based on the use of developable surfaces to allow the bending of planar and straight components without any stretching or deformations.
PROJECT CREDITS
CREATE Group - Led by Associate Prof. Dr. Roberto Naboni
Teaching Team: Roberto Naboni, Anja Kunic, Luca Breseghello, Dario Marino, Alessandro Zomparelli, Sandro Sanin, Riccardo La Magna
Students: Aina Radovan, Andreas Nicolai Nielsen, Andrew Smith, Angelina Garipova, Anne Katrine Beyer, Asger Gehrt Pedersen, Aske Skovrup Kiehn, Averina Ayshia Annisa, Cyril Novotný, Guijia Zhao, Ilya Lebedev, Jonathan Vestergaard Nielsen, Juraj Stetiar, Mathilde Lykke Eriksen, Maxime Fouillat, Robin Petersen, Veranika Sidorka, Vojtech Vrtal, Xan Browne
University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Section for Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE)
Material Partner: Stora Enso