IN THEIR OWN VOICE | Profiles in PhD Architecture Research Mostafa Akbari, Ph.D. Candidate

Mostafa Akbari is a computational designer and researcher with a unique background in architectural design and Material Computation. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Architecture studying Computational Design and Advanced Manufacturing. His research interests include Structural Form Finding Methods in the context of Graphic Statics, Material Programming, and Bio-based Materials. Mostafa will be defending his dissertation in February 2024.

Working collaboratively with colleagues in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UPenn and at the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State, Mostafa has conducted advanced research in the material performance of fractured metals and bio-based composite shellular structures, respectively.

When asked to speak about his research and publications Mostafa noted:

“For Ph.D. candidates, maintaining a consistent publication record is essential for tracking research progress and receiving valuable input from field experts. Sometimes, researchers can become overly focused on their work and lose sight of the bigger picture. That's why opting for journal or conference publications can help keep them on the right path.” And “when selecting a journal for publication, the primary consideration is understanding the journal's target audience. For instance, in one of our research projects, focusing on Self-Healing Metal Structures we sought readers in both the design and scientific communities, at the crossroads of design, structures, and material science.  In this case, the journal Advanced Materials was an ideal fit for us. Moreover, the journal's popularity, indicated by its impact factor, can be an important factor in ensuring that the research reaches a broad audience.”

In our initial publication, "Electromechanical Healing of Fractured Metals," our primary objective was to create an automated method for repairing intricate cellular and shell-like structures (shellular). Traditionally, welding has been the go-to approach for repairing metal structures. However, with advancements in digital manufacturing and 3D printing, we now encounter structures of greater complexity. This complexity can make it challenging to access certain parts of the structure for welding. To address this issue, we developed a technique that involves immersing the structure in a liquid for automated metal repair. A significant personal challenge was to design a structure with known defects, to create a structure that would fail in a specific location, even as we set out to observe the healing process in that particular area. Fortunately, we were able to use Polyhedral Graphic Statics to control the forces that each structural member could withstand, ensuring that specific members failed before others.”

In our second project, titled "Bio-based Composite Spatial Shell Structures," our primary aim was to establish a comprehensive method for producing sustainable shellular structures, which for the first time were created using graphic statics. Lightweight and highly efficient, they can withstand forces three times greater than strut-based cellular structures. The innovation was to fabricate them using a form of knitting whose resultant structure could handle its weight and additional loads. To achieve this, we used bio-based materials to reinforce the knitted structure, making it capable of withstanding both tension and compression forces. We impregnated the knitting with bio-based materials, along the stress lines of the knitting pattern. This resulted in a structure where the material was concentrated precisely along the load path, enhancing structural efficiency by strategically applying material where needed.”

For added information of Healing Fractured Metals 

Hsain, Zakaria, Mostafa Akbari, Adhokshid Prasanna, Zhimin Jiang, Masoud Akbarzadeh, and James H. Pikul. "Electrochemical Healing of Fractured Metals." Advanced Materials (2023): 2211242.

"Electrochemical Healing of Fractured Metals," explores the repair of fractured metals to extend their lifespan and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with metal mining and processing. While high-temperature methods (welding) have traditionally been used for metal repair, the rise of digital manufacturing, the emergence of "unweldable" alloys, and the integration of metals with polymers and electronics require innovative approaches. This study introduces a novel framework for effectively healing fractured metals at room temperature, utilizing area-selective nickel electrodeposition with a commonly used electrolyte chemistry. This collaborative effort between the Mechanical Engineering Department at UPenn (Pikul Research Group) and the Weitzman School of Design (Polyhedral Structures Lab) involved Ph.D. students Mostafa Akbari and Zakaria Hsain, under the guidance of their instructors, Prof. Masoud Akbarzadeh and Prof. James Pikul.

For added information of Knitting Shellular Funicular Structures

Mostafa Akbari, Farzaneh Oghazian, Ji Yoon Bae, Felecia Davis, Laia Mogas-Soldevila, Masoud Akbarzadeh. "Bio-based Composite Spatial Shell Structures." International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS), (2023).

"Bio-based Composite Spatial Shell Structures" investigates the possibility of fabricating shell-based shellular structures using knitting techniques. Shellular Funicular Structures are two-manifold single-layer structures that can be designed using graphic statics. Efficient compression/tension-only structures, shellular funicular structures are efficient at transferring forces, yet their fabrication process is challenging due to the geometric complexity of the structure. Comprised of a single surface, they are suitable candidates for being knitted, a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile or fabric. Knitting shellular structures produces minimal waste with the knit acting as the formwork for the actual structure or as part of a composite when combined with bio-based resin. This research proposes a workflow that scales knitted shellular structures to industrial levels. The Polyhedral Structures lab and the Dumo lab at the Weitzman School of Design collaborated with the Computational Textiles lab at the College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State University, with Ph.D. students Mostafa Akbari and Farzaneh Oghazian working alongside their supervisors Prof. Masoud Akbarzadeh, Prof. Laia Mogas Soldevila, and Prof. Felecia Davis. The results of this work were presented in the summer of 2023 at the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures in Australia.