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Structural Optimization of Composite Bamboo Beams

This research focuses on heterogenous construction methods with minimally processed bamboo with the goal of expanding the design space to include more species and to reduce the amount of offcuts and emissions associated with material selection and processing for construction use. There are several heterogeneous structural systems available. In order to compare them, we must first create a baseline structural analysis and optimized topology in abstract space to help guide us. This project borrows from cutting-edge research in evolutionary algorithms and freeform additive manufacturing to solve for a material distribution of a non-uniform multi-material 3D structure. To model the structural loads of non-uniform, anisotropic cantilever beam, a custom Finite Element Method solver was developed using Python. The project then maps this optimized distribution to a structural system: a truss or lattice system consisting of two types of bamboo and generatively-designed 3D-printed joints. This system was chosen for ease of assembly and additional structural analysis. Future research may compare the performance of this truss system to a full-culm bundle or split/lidl bundle system.