Yu Zhang

Last Name

Zhang

First Name

Yu

ORCID

0000-0001-8743-5362

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Publications 1 - 7 of 7

Sustainable Discrete Structures: From Design to Construction
Zhang, Yu (2023)
Mortarless Compressed Earth Block Dwellings
Zhang, Yu; Tatarintseva, Liz; Clewlow, Tom; et al. (2022)
ACADIA 2021: Realignments: Toward Critical Computation. Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture
Customizing designs with minimum resources: An accessible and sustainable fabrication process for bespoke, compressed earth blocks using additively manufactured molds
Zhang, Yu; Tatarintseva, Liz; Clewlow, Tom; et al. (2025)
Journal of Building Engineering
With advances in computational design and digital fabrication, mass customization of building geometries and components can improve structural integrity, sustainability, usability and architectural aesthetics. However, bespoke and sustainable structures often require proprietary materials and specialized machinery, which may be expensive, increase environmental impact and may not be available in low-resource settings or remote areas. This research presents an adaptive fabrication process that enables a conventional Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press to produce bespoke, customized blocks. Customized, 3D-printed molds, which are compatible with most conventional CEB presses without modification, are used to fabricate unique geometry CEBs, for example, blocks containing intricate features that enable interlocking. The novel CEB process is validated using a case study that fabricates five different interlocking CEB geometries from which a corbelled dome structure is assembled using 512 of these blocks without the need for mortar or formwork. The demonstrated new CEB process enables the construction of the corbelled dome structure using only earth material and one construction process. Compared with other customized fabrication processes, namely Additive Manufacturing, the demonstrated process can produce fine features in the CEBs, has a higher production throughput and is shown to not alter the mechanical properties of CEBs compared to a conventional CEB process. This research contributes to making the fabrication and construction of customized and sustainable CEB structures accessible, affordable and adaptable to all.
Mobile Augmented Reality for Aided Manual Assembly of Compressed Earth Block Dwellings
Aguilera, Andrea V.; Zhang, Yu; Shea, Kristina (2023)
Digital Design Reconsidered
This paper investigates how augmented reality (AR) can instruct and assist in assembling an earthen structure consisting of a limited set of geometrically different interlocking blocks. By adapting a visual-inertial object tracking software, to the assembly process of a mortarless, compressed earth block (CEB) dome, the construction site no longer needs physical templates and manuals. This enables the builders to have real-time tracking with visual feedback to actively adjust according to the optical guidance during the course of assembly. Two identical dome structures are built with the same set of earth blocks, one with AR and one without. The results show that using AR can significantly improve construction efficiency for complex, dry-stacked structures as it acts as assembly guidance and provides insight into the limits of the tracking tolerances. Further, this paper discusses the limitations and challenges and can provide an outlook for further research scaling up the production to construct a habitable dwelling. Starting with just a pile of dirt and a mobile phone, the demonstrator exhibits the compatibility of local, sustainable materials and digital, efficient processes.
Computational design synthesis for Fabrication-Aware assembly problems using building objects with dimensional variations
Zhang, Yu; Shea, Kristina (2022)
Advanced Engineering Informatics
State-of-the-art computational design approaches for designing the assembly of a structure often rely on high-precision building objects, which can be difficult and costly to fabricate. To consider a wider range of construction materials and fabrication processes, e.g. low-cost 3D printing and brick making, this research introduces a novel computational design method for fabrication-aware assembly problems using existing building components with dimensional variations. Given a finite set of building objects, this study develops a statistical preprocessing approach and a modified pattern search with an efficient integer linear programming method to generate the assembly of a target structure, such that it is statically stable and optimized for geometric smoothness and space utilization. In two case studies, the proposed algorithm exhibits significantly better boundary fitting and space utilization compared with a genetic algorithm and a standard pattern search method and lower computational cost compared with a genetic algorithm.
A template design and automated parametric model for sustainable corbel dwellings with interlocking blocks
Zhang, Yu; Tatarintseva, Liz; Clewlow, Tom; et al. (2023)
Developments in the Built Environment
Existing approaches to sustainable dwellings often involve high-tech equipment and skilled workers, which are less accessible in low-resource settings. This research introduces a novel template design and automated parametric model for the design of corbel dwellings that can be built using standard equipment, local material, and lower-skilled workers. The template design is a modular, single-story dome-shaped structure transitioning from a square-base footprint to a circular roof zone using only five block types. Interlocking block features enable both aligned and offset dry stacking and reduce the use of mortar and formwork. The geometrically complex design is enabled by a parametric model that automatically synthesizes alternative designs and conducts preliminary structural analysis, including stability and FEA in real-time. The example context used is Morocco where the entire structure can be constructed using Compressed Earth Blocks. A range of dwellings are automatically generated using one set of blocks to explore the design space.
Sustainable Design Synthesis of Discrete Free-From Structures Utilizing Existing Building Objects
Zhang, Yu; Shea, Kristina (2024)
Proceedings of IASS Annual Symposia ~ Proceedings of the IASS 2024 Symposium: Redefining the Art of Structural Design
This research introduces a novel computational design synthesis framework for generating sustainable, bespoke, free-form structures using existing, cuboidal building objects. Conventionally, bespoke design typically requires precise, customized, virgin materials, necessitating the need for sustainable alternatives taking full advantage of available or reclaimed resources. However, despite considerable CO₂ emissions reduction, reclaimed cuboidal building objects, e.g. masonry blocks, are seldom adopted in the construction of free-form structures. Given a target free-form geometry and a finite set of building objects, the proposed method generates a set of Pareto-optimal discrete assemblies optimized for structural integrity, geometry approximation, and sustainability, e.g. embodied carbon. Employing a nested optimization process, the proposed process develops a novel, coarse meshing technique in the outer loop to discretize geometry for scalability. Then, the combinatorial assembly problem is formulated and efficiently solved in the inner loop as two Integer Linear Programming problems to maximize geometric accuracy and minimize environmental impact. Through a case study with reclaimed blocks, this approach achieves significantly better geometry approximation and sustainability compared to conventional methods that use virgin, standardized materials, exhibiting the potential to promote sustainable construction practices without compromising design integrity.

Publications 1 - 7 of 7

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