Modular Coreless Filament Winding for Lightweight Systems in Architecture

The paper describes novel strategies towards coreless filament winding of geometrically complex fibre
reinforced building components. The research focuses on winding processes that reduce the need for formwork,
allowing for the fabrication of individual one-off components made of glass and carbon fibre rovings. The
component geometry and layout of the rovings is adapted to the structural loading of the system. Through the
development of a modular system, the dimension of the resulting structure is not limited by the robotic
fabrication set-up, which demonstrates how the coreless winding method is applicable in large scale building
implementations.
The paper presents two prototypes produced by modular coreless winding: First, the ICD/ITKE Research
Pavilion 2013-14 investigated and demonstrated the geometric variability of the system. Second, the Elytra
Filament Pavilion at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2016 extended this approach towards a fully
functioning roof system of significant scale. The Elytra Filament Pavilion is additionally equipped with a fibre
optic monitoring system, allowing for on-line sensing of strain and temperature and illustrating the potential of
multi-functional fibre systems.