Material Experimentation: Cardboard

To better demonstrate how lightweight materials can support a disproportionately large mass, I created two structures out of cardboard, using curved bend lines to create curved surfaces. This enabled the cardboard structures to support hundreds of times its own mass. The design in the top photo was the heaviest of the two, using multiple pieces cardboard. This design was the most stable, however it could not handle as much weight as the design in the second photo, this is because the surfaces supporting the mass during testing were not curved enough; after minor changes to the design (increasing the crown in the surfaces) the structure was able to support more weight. The design in the second photo was able to support the most weight, whilst still being the lightest, having only been made from a single piece of cardboard. The one problem this design did make very apparent was that the mass was not being distributed in such a way that did not cause buckling and twisting.

From this I learned that reinforcement of materials is not always the best way to strengthen a structure. It has become clear that clever design, through smart material choices and adjusting curvature can drastically improve results, especially when the mass of a piece of furniture is of great concern, second only to the safety of the person using the product.