Arcadis Construction, Engineering & Design by GineersNow Drones & Technologies in Construction Industry | Page 45

Bottles aren’t meant to be used as building
blocks by themselves, so the researchers cre-
ated the software in a way that it could use
3D printing technology to create these struc-
ture-specific connectors that’ll link the plastic
bottles in a secure manner. The software also
generates the files to have the things 3D printed
automatically, saving you some time.
“Truss structures essentially consist of triangles,”
explains the researchers. “In such an arrange-
ment, it is the structure that prevents de-forma-
tion, not the individual bottle. Bottles are weak
when pushed from the side, but are very strong
when pushed or pulled along their main axis.”
TrussFab is also sort of a physics-simulator,
using its algorithms to let you know whether the
structure you sketched is actually viable. “Truss-
Fab’s integrated structural analysis calculates
the internal forces in the structure and warns
users if it would break”
Here’s a video demonstrating the use of TrustFab
and just how strong the structures it builds are:
“TrussFab embodies the required engineering
knowledge, allowing non-engineers to design
such structures and allows users to validate their
designs using integrated structural analysis,”
says the researchers.
TrustFab isn’t available for public use yet, but
when it does, it’d be pretty exciting to get our
hands on it to see what cool stuff we can build.
Construction Leaders • May 2017
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