Gyroid Mullion

Gyroid Mullion

The thesis explores various aspects of the application that extend from a rapid modeling method of gyroid structure, experiments, and simulations along with theoretical values for mechanical and thermal properties of gyroid, to topology optimization...

Table of Contents

High Performance Curtain Wall Mullion Section Design with Various
Densities of Gyroid

Min Jeong Kang
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
September 2016

The thermal bridge problem in building facades has become a topic of interest as the energy performance of building enclosure design required improvements with a global lead in sustainable building design. Curtain wall facade systems are widely used for recent high-rise buildings, and the thermal bridge issue occurs mainly within the aluminum frame of the curtain wall system.

In addition to the thermal bridging effects, the conventional curtain wall facade designs have limitations in increasing the stiffness of the mullion. As to address the lack of an innovative solution to solve both issues, this thesis proposes utilizing a cellular structure in mullion design. In particular, this thesis by Min Jeong Kang, has selected a single-gyroid structure, which is an open cell foam structure that has the minimum surface area necessary to span a region of space.

The thesis explores various aspects of the application that extend from a rapid modeling method of gyroid structure, experiments, and simulations along with theoretical values for mechanical and thermal properties of gyroid, to topology optimization of the various densities of gyroid in the composite structure. The results are expected to improve the curtain wall designs with future experimental verifications.

Leave a Reply

Related Post

The Airshell Prototype

This paper by Alessandro Liuti, Sofia Colabella, and Alberto Pugnale, presents the construction of Airshell, a small timber gridshell prototype erected by employing a pneumatic formwork.

Read More »

Strained Grid Shells

In this paper by Gregory Charles Quinn, Chris J K Williams, and Christoph Gengnagel, a detailed comparison is carried out between established as well as novel erection methods for strained grid shells by means of FE simulations and a 3D-scanned scaled physical model in order to evaluate key performance criteria such as bending stresses during erection and the distance between shell nodes and their spatial target geometry.

Read More »

Gridshell Structure

In this paper by Frederic Tayeb, Olivier Baverel, Jean-François Caron, Lionel du Peloux, ductility aspects of a light-weight composite gridshell are developed.

Read More »