Optimum design, fabrication and experimental testing of next-generation floor structures in buildings

To reduce carbon emissions in the buildings sector, it is crucial that the amount of material used to create floor structures is kept to a minimum. Recent research at UoS has suggested that 50-70% of the material currently used to create floor structures can be eliminated, by using optimised floor grillage layouts, identified via an innovative layout optimisation method. This opens up the opportunity to develop next-generation floor structures with significantly lower carbon footprints. 

To stimulate widespread adoption of the proposed innovative floor design methodology in industry, we bring together academics with expertise in structural optimisation, digital fabrication and laboratory testing, together with experts from leading consulting engineering firm Arup, to optimise, fabricate and test the optimised 'grillage' structures identified via layout optimisation. 

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