Design and 3D Printing Methodologies for Cellulose-based Composite Materials

A growing awareness of architecture's environmental responsibility is
encouraging a shift from an industrial age to an ecological one. This shift
emphasises a new era of materiality, characterised by a special focus on
bio-polymers. The potential of these materials is to address unsustainable modes
of resource consumption, and to rebalance our relationship with the natural.
However, bio-polymers also challenge current design and manufacturing
practices, which rely on highly manufactured and standardized materials. In this
paper, we present material experiments and digital design and fabrication
methodologies for cellulose-based composites, to create porous biodegradable
panels. Cellulose, the most abundant bio-polymer on Earth, has potential for
differentiated architectural applications. A key limit is the critical role of additive
fabrication methods for larger scale elements, which are a subject of ongoing
research. In this paper, we describe how controlling the interdependent
relationship between the additive manufacturing process and the material
grading enables the manipulation of the material's performance, and the related
control aspects including printing parameters such as speed, nozzle diameter, air
flow, etc., as well as tool path trajectory. Our design exploration responds to the
emerging fabrication methods to achieve different levels of porosity and depth
which define the geometry of a panel.