Project Description
This second-phase research project will scale and apply an established waste PLA recycling workflow to the design, fabrication, installation, and performance testing of a building envelope solar control device. The project will convert post-consumer and post-process PLA waste from campus 3D printing into engineered components for a façade-mounted solar control system. The student researcher will work directly with the faculty mentor to develop the material processing, design the device, fabricate prototypes, and install and test the system’s ability to manage solar exposure and to produce measurable atmospheric and microclimatic effects at the installation site. This work will build on prior research conducted by this lab in which waste PLA was processed into a laser cutter compliant sheet goods and turned into lamps. This project builds on an initial grant that established a basic PLA collection, cleaning, and re-extrusion workflow and produced small-scale test specimens. The proposed work is the logical next step: engineering the recycled PLA into structural and functional elements suitable for a building envelope application and validating performance in situ.
Tasks and Responsibilites
The student will be responsible for the following:
- Material Development: Optimize recycling and reprocessing protocols for heterogeneous waste PLA to produce sheet goods suitable for structural and functional façade components.
- Design and Fabrication: Co-develop with the faculty a modular solar control device (shading panels, louvers, or perforated screens) that leverages the mechanical and optical properties of recycled PLA.
- Installation and Testing: Install a prototype device on, ideally, a campus building façade and quantify its ability to manage solar exposure and produce atmospheric/microclimatic effects.
- Performance Evaluation: Measure thermal, daylighting, airflow, and humidity impacts and assess durability under outdoor weathering. Measurement will be taken with HOBO sensors from the research lab.
Desired Qualifications
None listed.