• DOI:10.1088/1361-665X/aa9c2f
• Corpus ID: 139146312

Flectofold—a biomimetic compliant shading device for complex free form facades

@article{Krner2017FlectofoldaBC,
  title={Flectofold—a biomimetic compliant shading device for complex free form facades},
  author={Axel K{\"o}rner and Larissa Born and Anja Mader and Renate Sachse and Saman Saffarian and Anna Sofia Westermeier and Simon Poppinga and Manfred Bischoff and G{\"o}tz Theodor Gresser and Markus Milwich and Thomas Speck and Jan Knippers},
  journal={Smart Materials and Structures},
  year={2017},
  volume={27}
}

• A. Körner, L. Born, +9 authors J. Knippers
• Published 2017
• Engineering
• Smart Materials and Structures

Smart and adaptive outer façade shading systems are of high interest in modern architecture. For long lasting and reliable systems, the abandonment of hinges which often fail due to mechanical wear during repetitive use is of particular importance. Drawing inspiration from the hinge-less motion of the underwater snap-trap of the carnivorous waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa), the compliant façade shading device Flectofold was developed. Based on computational simulations of the biological role-model’s elastic and reversible motion, the actuation principle of the plant can be identified. The enclosed geometric motion principle is abstracted into a simplified curved-line folding geometry with distinct flexible hinge-zones. The kinematic behaviour is translated into a quantitative kinetic model, using finite element simulation which allows the detailed analyses of the influence of geometric parameters such as curved-fold line radius and various pneumatically driven actuation principles on the motion behaviour, stress concentrations within the hinge-zones, and actuation forces. The information regarding geometric relations and material gradients gained from those computational models are then used to develop novel material combinations for glass fibre reinforced plastics which enabled the fabrication of physical prototypes of the compliant façade shading device Flectofold.