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On
another level, the research will consider the customisation of parts
and components for those industries which produce traditional or
heritage products for which existing Rapid Manufacturing techniques
are readily transferable. The work will assess the viability
of freeform construction whilst identifying the limitations and cost
implications, of applying these techniques, to the broader
construction industry. The aims of this aspect of the research
are:
 Identify and test
end user/client customisation using freeform construction and
reverse engineering, focussing on the repair and refurbishment of
architectural detailing in Heritage Buildings.
Identify
preliminary architectural, structural and services engineering
limitations to volumetric freeform construction, propose solutions
to these and test through theoretical and physical modelling.
Investigate the
business case behind the examples proposed in (i) and (ii) across
the supply chain clearly identifying benefits and constraints for
the parties concerned.
Specifically, the
research is looking at the scanning/digitizing of Heritage
components, such as damaged plaster reliefs. Damaged sections
will be scanned either in-situ or within the laboratory and the data
repaired using ‘haptic’ devices for freeform image manipulation to
rebuild the damaged section. The repairs will be converted
into either ‘crowns’ or as complete gypsum pieces generated using a
range of current Rapid Manufacturing processes, including the
Z-Corps large format 3D printing process.
Please click
HERE
for contact details.
Please click
HERE
for sponsor and collaborator details.
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