NSF Grant: Tunable Materials for Complex Freeform Structures

EAGER: DREAM-B: Collaborative Research: Moldable and Wave Tunable Materials for Complex Freeform Structures

Awarded: April 9, 2019

Awardee: California College of the Arts

National Science Foundation’s Early- Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) is awarded to Negar Kalantar on the research topic of moldability and materials for extreme environmental events. 

The topic of the research addresses the severity of natural disasters and proposes ways of mitigating the effects through new building construction practices. The research proposal focuses on the building’s skin by tuning it to be able to respond to such events. Specifically, relief cutting or “kerfing” is employed on solid panels of wood and metals, with certain microstructural patterns, making them moldable and being able to absorb and redirect energy.  “Because of the architected nature, the cut surfaces are expected to display a wide range of wave and vibration control and energy dissipation mechanisms”, as stated in the Abstract. Creating these freeform complex shapes goes beyond conventional practice and adds to the building’s functionality.

This High-Risk, High-Reward research departs from traditional construction methodologies by integrating freeform complex shapes into purposeful design, improving fabrication processes, and blending dynamic performance with architectural constraints. 

From NSF:  NSF Award Search: Award # 1913688 - EAGER: DREAM-B: Collaborative Research: Moldable and Wave Tunable Materials for Complex Freeform Structures