Abstract
The motivation of the thesis arises from a fact in which the composite materials and their structure logic are not recognized as the “real” architectural materials in the architecture industry. Due to ideal materials’ properties, composites have been applied in the various industries including automotive, aerospace, marine, IT and sports since mid of 20th Century. However, even the initial attempt and experimentation happened right after the birth of composites, this category of materials still have not found widely in the architecture environment. Over the past decade, in the contemporary developing context of computational design and digital fabrication, composites have again been recognized as offering unique architectural possibilities. More and more architects are attracted to composites because the materials enable them to collapse various structures by reducing the layers required with conventional building techniques. The strength of a composite structure also makes it excellent for wide-span applications. But there are issues in architecture industries to accept composites, especially the public’s perception of the architectural materials and hence, most projects still remain on a speculative level. The aim of this thesis is to investigate on the properties and structures of the different type of composite materials and the ways can be applied in the architecture environment with the more acceptable methods and cost. The thesis will start from the micro composite materials studies and ends with the marco architectural element. Composites are subjected to different loads on an architectural element. Therefore, this thesis will try to establish understanding of the changes of the properties and structures of the composites which can affect the way to design an architectural element. In the meanwhile, it will focus on seeking the solutions to combine the natural materials and artificial materials in the similar ways as composite structure, including carbon fibre, fibre reinforced plastic (FRP), honeycomb and glass fibre. The scaled architectural element with all the research outcome will be built in the end of the thesis.