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Phase 2 Projects
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The 20 Research Projects
 
 
 
 



Stress Computation, Visualisation, and Measurement in: 1. Design of free-form fabric structures 2. Fine art restoration and novel artist materials 3. Digital Art/Imagery

Tensioned fabric is being studied as a medium for sculpturing architectural enclosures, but also as an artist material used in painting. The project represents inter-linked aspects of the study of fabrics, brought together under a common mathematical structure and experimental research methodology.

1: The design of fabric enclosures will generate minimum energy forms, i.e. enclosures with uniform surface tension, as observed in soap-films. The main focus will be placed on patterning - the transformation of a stressed, 3D form into a series of 2D cutting patterns in unstrained fabric.

2: The majority of painting on canvas over 80 years have been reinforced with a woven fabric adhered to the reverse. The choice of fabric is a compromise between physical/chemical long-term stability, mechanical properties, moisture permeability, texture, handling properties, aesthetics and commercial availability. The project will focus on developing new fabrics for the structural conservation of canvas paintings and as artists’ materials.
For further information please visit: http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/conservation-easel/canvas/index.html

3: Digital Art will be a by-product of research into stressed fabrics. The computational methodology plus optical measurements are capable of producing colour images of stress/deformation patterns developing in a given material subjected to a variety of loading environmental regimes.

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Principal Investigator:
Wanda Lewis
University of Warwick
T: 02476 523 138
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