Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles

A concept for a smart material morphing building surface tile that would utilize adaptive surface wrinkle patterns to improve solar interaction is explored. The effect of the wrinkle patterns is numerically investigated in the context of an objective to reduce solar irradiance entering buildings by...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Robert Joseph Zupan, Dale Clifford, Richard Beblo, John Brigham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Stichting OpenAccess 2018-04-01
Series:Journal of Facade Design and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jfde.eu/index.php/jfde/article/view/140
_version_ 1797870170572587008
author Robert Joseph Zupan
Dale Clifford
Richard Beblo
John Brigham
author_facet Robert Joseph Zupan
Dale Clifford
Richard Beblo
John Brigham
author_sort Robert Joseph Zupan
collection DOAJ
description A concept for a smart material morphing building surface tile that would utilize adaptive surface wrinkle patterns to improve solar interaction is explored. The effect of the wrinkle patterns is numerically investigated in the context of an objective to reduce solar irradiance entering buildings by changing the shape of the surface (i.e., surface topography) so that the facade is self-shading, thereby reducing energy costs of the building for temperature control. A generally applicable algorithm was utilized and is presented to quantify the area of an arbitrarily shaped/oriented surface that is in shade for any given date/time and geographic location. Numerical case studies are shown that utilize the surface shading algorithm to evaluate the capabilities of various basic wrinkle patterns, both static and dynamically changing, to self-shade a building surface over the course of a day. The results indicate that a morphing wrinkle pattern can substantially increase the amount and duration of surface area in shade over time in comparison to any of the static (non-morphing) patterns, although it is noted that there is an expected tradeoff in the energy cost to change the surface pattern. Furthermore, it is shown that as the location of the proposed tile on the building facade changes, the optimal wrinkle pattern changes as well.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T00:23:07Z
format Article
id doaj.art-5b4c0cea419e41dea1f7b2cd0748a495
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2213-302X
2213-3038
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-10T00:23:07Z
publishDate 2018-04-01
publisher Stichting OpenAccess
record_format Article
series Journal of Facade Design and Engineering
spelling doaj.art-5b4c0cea419e41dea1f7b2cd0748a4952023-03-15T13:53:21ZengStichting OpenAccessJournal of Facade Design and Engineering2213-302X2213-30382018-04-016110.7480/jfde.2018.1.1781140Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface TilesRobert Joseph Zupan0Dale Clifford1Richard Beblo2John Brigham3University of PittsburghCalifornia Polytechnic State UniversityUniversity of Dayton Research InstituteDurham University A concept for a smart material morphing building surface tile that would utilize adaptive surface wrinkle patterns to improve solar interaction is explored. The effect of the wrinkle patterns is numerically investigated in the context of an objective to reduce solar irradiance entering buildings by changing the shape of the surface (i.e., surface topography) so that the facade is self-shading, thereby reducing energy costs of the building for temperature control. A generally applicable algorithm was utilized and is presented to quantify the area of an arbitrarily shaped/oriented surface that is in shade for any given date/time and geographic location. Numerical case studies are shown that utilize the surface shading algorithm to evaluate the capabilities of various basic wrinkle patterns, both static and dynamically changing, to self-shade a building surface over the course of a day. The results indicate that a morphing wrinkle pattern can substantially increase the amount and duration of surface area in shade over time in comparison to any of the static (non-morphing) patterns, although it is noted that there is an expected tradeoff in the energy cost to change the surface pattern. Furthermore, it is shown that as the location of the proposed tile on the building facade changes, the optimal wrinkle pattern changes as well. https://jfde.eu/index.php/jfde/article/view/140MorphingBuilding EnvelopeSelf-ShadingCactus TileAdaptive StructuresWrinkle
spellingShingle Robert Joseph Zupan
Dale Clifford
Richard Beblo
John Brigham
Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
Journal of Facade Design and Engineering
Morphing
Building Envelope
Self-Shading
Cactus Tile
Adaptive Structures
Wrinkle
title Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
title_full Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
title_fullStr Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
title_short Numerical Investigation of Capabilities for Dynamic Self-Shading through Shape Changing Building Surface Tiles
title_sort numerical investigation of capabilities for dynamic self shading through shape changing building surface tiles
topic Morphing
Building Envelope
Self-Shading
Cactus Tile
Adaptive Structures
Wrinkle
url https://jfde.eu/index.php/jfde/article/view/140
work_keys_str_mv AT robertjosephzupan numericalinvestigationofcapabilitiesfordynamicselfshadingthroughshapechangingbuildingsurfacetiles
AT daleclifford numericalinvestigationofcapabilitiesfordynamicselfshadingthroughshapechangingbuildingsurfacetiles
AT richardbeblo numericalinvestigationofcapabilitiesfordynamicselfshadingthroughshapechangingbuildingsurfacetiles
AT johnbrigham numericalinvestigationofcapabilitiesfordynamicselfshadingthroughshapechangingbuildingsurfacetiles