This research investigates the design, fabrication, and structural performance of triply periodic minimal surface concrete units. The main goal is to design a unit with the least amount of concrete to be used as a building block for high-performance, low-carbon and efficient structures. Three dimensional graphic statics was used as a design tool along with robotic hot wire cutter and computer vision for fabrication. In total three units, P. Schwarz, Gyroid and a Hybrid, were built and tested experimentally and numerically. The dimensions of each minimal surface units are 30.48 × 30.48 × 30.48 cm (1’ × 1’ × 1’), with half an inch concrete shell confined between extrudes and intrudes foam. The formwork was built in multiple segments to lower material use. Results showed all units perform very well under the compression which reveals the potential of using these units in building walls, foundation or columns. The FE models accurately simulated the stress distributions, with the locations of high stresses corresponding well with observed crack patterns from experimental tests, thereby validating the numerical simulations. Moreover, the analysis revealed that the P. Schwarz model exhibited significant improvements in strength when confined in multiple directions, with the maximum tensile strength increasing up to 5.5 times compared to the unconfined model.

中文翻译：

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三周期最小表面混凝土单元的设计、制造和分析


本研究调查了三周期最小表面混凝土单元的设计、制造和结构性能。主要目标是设计一个混凝土用量最少的单元，用作高性能、低碳和高效结构的构建块。三维图形静力学与机器人热丝切割机和计算机视觉一起被用作设计工具进行制造。总共建造了三个单元，P. Schwarz、Gyroid 和 Hybrid 单元，并进行了实验和数值测试。每个最小表面单位的尺寸为 30.48 × 30.48 × 30.48 厘米（1 英尺× 1 英尺× 1 英尺），半英寸的混凝土外壳限制在挤压和侵入泡沫之间。模板分为多个部分构建，以减少材料使用。结果表明，所有单元在压缩下的性能都非常好，这揭示了在建筑墙壁、地基或柱子中使用这些单元的潜力。有限元模型精确地模拟了应力分布，高应力的位置与从实验测试中观察到的裂纹模式非常吻合，从而验证了数值模拟。此外，分析表明，P. Schwarz 模型在多个方向受限时表现出强度的显着提高，与无侧限模型相比，最大拉伸强度提高了 5.5 倍。