In today’s Lunch & Learn, Meghan Krupka demonstrated the use of a 3d laser scanner and related software she has used in her research. She uses the scanner to capture a three dimensional surface, which she then does software based experiments on, such as testing the structural density of an object without having to actually affect the object. Watch the video to see this amazing demonstration.
Wednesday, April 11, 12:00 noon
Frist Multipurpose Room B
Frist Multipurpose Room B
The Role of 3D Laser Scanning in the Physical Structural Form-Finding Process
Meghan Krupka
In architecture and structural engineering, physical or experimental form finding is often used in preliminary design stages to determine approximate final geometries for structures such as membranes, thin shells, grid shells, and cable nets. These experiments are carried out using small-scale models. Notable twentieth century architects and engineers Frei Otto, Antonio Gaudí, and Heinz Isler all pioneered extensive methods of physical form finding by using soap film surfaces, hanging chain models, and inverted plaster models. Now, with the use of 3D laser scanners, the geometry from these models can be captured and input into structural analysis programs in order to assess the structure’s mechanical behavior under design loads. This presentation describes how the 3-D scanner was used to capture forms generated from a new physical form finding technique that applies heat to membrane-spline models constructed from shrink film and stiff tape, as well as how this data was then used for structural analysis.
About the speaker:
Meghan Krupka is a second year Master’s student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department studying structural engineering. She is working with her advisor, Professor Sigrid Adriaenssens, on the development of an algorithm for modeling torsion forces in the computational form finding process Dynamic Relaxation and the development of the aforementioned physical form finding technique. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an undergraduate and is originally from Medfield, MA
