Due to concrete’s traditional role as a casting material its appearance as a uniform solid mass is one of the material’s most distinct traits. When poured in a mould fresh concrete adheres to the shape of the formwork and material distribution is not adaptable at a more detailed level. This paper explores how deposition-based additive manufacturing opens up new opportunities for controlling the distribution of concrete at a previously neglected intermediate scale - the meso-scale. By adopting principles of knitting to toolpath planning, the paper presents a computational method for varying the density, porosity, and surface articulation of the material, previously inconceivable due to the limitations of formwork.
QC 20201130