Integrative computational design and engineering methods for novel hybrid bio-fibre timber composite systems

• User-friendly design tool for hybrid fibre-timber structures, featuring matrix-based structural analysis and manufacturing integration.
• Automated generation of simplified calculation models through AI-assisted identification of joints and material transitions.
• Utilisation of structural redundancy and behavioural patterns for more efficient analyses and cost-effective calculations.

This research project develops an integrated computational design and engineering method for hybrid bio-fibre timber composite structures that incorporates computer vision, in-depth mechanical understanding, real-time monitoring, and situated visualisation to overcome critical challenges in performance predictability and material efficiency in a fully bio-based system. Building on IntCDC's achievements in natural fibre composites, which have resulted in weight reductions to up to one-fiftieth of those of equivalent concrete structures, the project addresses fundamental limitations: the lack of reliable, rapidly integrated data; high material variability; and joint performance as the primary failure bottleneck.

The project advances natural fibre building systems and coreless filament winding (CFW) and their previous results towards circularity and resource efficiency, while developing comprehensive multi-material systems that address structural performance and multi-agent fabrication. AI-driven design support and fibre optical sensor (FOS) monitoring achieve greater predictability while reducing safety factors and material requirements through data-driven approaches, optimisation algorithms incorporating redundancy distribution, and enhanced visualisation methods.

Real-time sensor- and vision-based feedback loops link fabrication data to the digital model, enabling cyber-physical prefabrication with on-the-fly adaptation of robotic process parameters and continuous, automated safety assessment. Novel fibrous joint geometries maintain fibre continuity while minimising stress concentrations. Modular system designs enable building stock retrofitting for urban densification. Software tools and validated datasets disseminated through IntCDC and DaRUS advance human-material co-agency, demonstrating pathways toward resource-efficient and circular architectural typologies.

The Institute for Structural Mechanics contribution to the project involves the development of a user-friendly computer-aided design tool that integrates structural mechanics data using matrix-based design methods and is specifically tailored to hybrid fibre-timber structures. The tool takes manufacturing constraints into account and enables quantitative mechanical assessments (such as structural redundancy) throughout the entire design process, from the initial concept through the manufacturing phase to completion.

In addition, an AI-supported automated generation of mechanical structural models tailored to the hybrid fibre-timber system is to be developed. Element connections and material transitions are to be identified in order to convert physical structures into simplified computational models.

A data-based framework, into which information on structural redundancy is integrated, is intended to improve analytical accuracy through data pre-processing, thereby increasing efficiency. In addition, systematic behavioural patterns of the hybrid components in scenarios in many-query contexts are to be utilised to enable improved predictive capabilities and cost-saving calculations.

Project title:
Integrative computational design and engineering methods for novel hybrid bio-fibre timber composite systems
(Research project 12-3)
Funding:
German Research Foundation (DFG), Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Transformative Architecture (IntCDC), GEPRIS-Project number: 390831618
Project partners:
Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), University of Stuttgart
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart
Institute for Textile and Fiber Technologies (ITFT), University of Stuttgart