AddFiberFab

Contextualized within the accelerated modernization of the building sector, the research project “Additive Manufacturing Methods for Composite Structures in Construction (AddFiberFab)“ focuses on additive manufacturing processes for high performance, lightweight structures. The main area of investigation is the use of anisotropic fiber composite materials in additive production processes within the building industry, which promises significant material and resource savings.

When applied in the construction sector, additive manufacturing techniques allow for the production of components with individually adapted geometry without any economic disadvantage.

This results in an opportunity to construct bespoke load-bearing structures, where materials are utilized with maximum structural and architectural effectiveness. The use of anisotropic fiber composite materials in additive manufacturing processes also allows for a particularly efficient use of material by local adapting the fiber orientation and density in response to the force flow.

A distinctive trait of the investigated winding techniques is the total reduction of the winding core, or of other winding support structures. This improvement in the winding process is enabled by the use of digital simulation techniques for determining the reciprocal deformation of free-spanning fibers, essentially allowing for the creation of components with high geometric complexity, locally adapted material properties and light weight.

AddFiberFab developed the potential of the additive manufacturing of fiber composite components, from a prototypical development stage to a robust, fast, and highly automated industrial process, where associated planning and simulation methods contribute to an efficient application in architecture.

Project team