///PhD Defense „Reinforcing and Detailing of Thin Sheet Metal Using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing as an Application in Facades” of Chris Borg Costanzi
Sheet material has long been part of the narrative defining the progression of humankind. The strength, lightness and relative ease in which the material could be formed made it an attractive material for both the adorning of jewelry and providing protective armor (and weaponry) during clashes between civilizations. However, its application as a façade material, the context in which this thesis is placed, really took off after the industrial revolution. The development of technologies such as the hydraulic press and the Bessemer Process – an inexpensive method of mass-producing steel – meant that metal would eventually grow to be more widely adopted in the automotive and, eventually, aerospace, ship building and façade construction industry.
The continued progression of technology inevitably led new innovations, amongst which were Computer Aided Design (CAD), computational design tools and novel fabrication techniques, including Additive Manufacturing (AM). While research in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) as one technology of AM, has been developing well before the initiation of the research, its combination with thin sheet metal was still in its relative infancy. The high heat input generated from welding devices, and the low stiffness of sheet material results in numerous issues to be solved.
Overall, the thesis wasn’t intended to solve all the issues relating to welding thin sheet metal, rather it is meant to serve as the first iteration into future research on the topic. The end of the thesis presents a future vision, both in terms of processes which were not able to be solved during the thesis as well as potential future applications in the built environment.
To be continued!
facadeworld 