Genesis of your product. why and for whom?

The elements show the substitution of rigid body mechanisms by compliant mechanisms which achieve flexibility by local material gradients. In consequence, mechanical complexity and maintenance are reduced. Materialization/Actuation are bio-inspired and result from several projects of ITFT and ITKE.

Benefits for the final customers?

By adapting the material set-up/fiber orientation and actuator geometry, the deformation of a component can be individually configured for several applications. In addition to adjusting the flexibility, the fiber reinforcement enables a high cyclic strength of the adaptive elements.

The product : materials and processes

Since no mechanical joints are used, the shading elements enable an external full-surface shading of geometrically challenging façades and thus contribute to reducing the energy consumption (air conditioning) of buildings. They consist of GFRP (epoxy prepreg fabric) and elastomer. The cavity (actuator position) is created by a Teflon layer. The materials are processed by hot pressing.