Digital Design of automatically wound shear reinforcement for non-prismatic concrete beams

Concrete is the world’s most widely used man-made material, accounting for around 7% of global CO2 emissions. Currently, up to half of the concrete used in buildings is unnecessary, as it is there because it is shaped using prismatic formworks, which are structurally inefficient. Recent research has demonstrated that flexible formwork can be used to form concrete members of any shape and that reinforcement can be woven into geometrically appropriate cages. This process is well suited for robotic automation, enabling off-site casting of non-prismatic beams with minimal human involvement. In a previous contribution, an iterative optimisation process was implemented in a parametric modelling framework to generate and analyse non-prismatic beams in bending, considering the constraints imposed by the use of fabric formwork. The current effort focuses on the winding process, which triggers further design constraints while considerably contributing, together with the concrete shape sections, to the shear strength of the beams. The analytical tool is linked to the generative geometry process and an optimisation tool, which can inform the parametric design of flexible beams with minimal embodied carbon.