Grow-contact simulation of hybrid joints for living architectures

Hybrid joints consist of living trees and industrial materials are the solutions to realize the living architectures. However, the mechanism of grow-contact-swallow behavior remains ambiguous. Some computational graphical methods have struggled to generate the tree geometry. However, physical features such as stiffness were not considered. In this paper, we proposed a grow-contact simulation method for describing the swallowing process to generate hybrid joints. Our temporal evolution approach is implemented using the Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline curves, and the genetic algorithms. We formulate the grow-contact process as a solution for optimization problem that leads to the state with minimal total generalized potential energy. We conclude that the simulation results explain 4 general contact behaviors, concerning stiffness, and the age of the tree as the mechanical metrics. Especially for swallowing behavior, the three-dimensional geometry prediction shows potential for the design of hybrid joints for living architectures.