From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design

J.K.R. Pupping; Marzia Riso; M. Popescu; Adrien Bousseau; J.J. Joustra

doi:10.1145/3745778.3766656

From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design

J.K.R. Pupping, Marzia Riso^*, M. Popescu, Adrien Bousseau, J.J. Joustra

^*Corresponding author for this work

Design for Sustainability

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

We explore the fabrication of curved surfaces by reusing panels extracted from decommissioned wind turbine blades, using cycling pumptracks as a case study. We first present real-world prototypes of pumptrack modules that we manufactured to evaluate the practicality of this reuse scenario and to define the boundary conditions for harvesting blade panels and assembling a track. We then propose an algorithm to optimize the segmentation of a wind turbine blade into quadrilateral panels whose sides fall within a small set of compatible boundaries. These panels form a library of modules that designers can connect side by side to create pumptracks of various lengths and curvatures. Together, these contributions provide a proof-of-concept of how computer-aided design and manufacturing can support circular design through the reuse of curved surfaces.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings
Editors	M. Popescu, B. Jones, J. Carstensen, E. Vouga, M. Konakovic Lukovic, S.N. Spencer
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400720345
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3745778.3766656
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication - MIT, Cambridge, USA, Cambridge, United States Duration: 20 Nov 2025 → 21 Nov 2025 Conference number: 10 https://scf.acm.org/2025/

Conference

Conference	ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication
Abbreviated title	SCF
Country/Territory	United States
City	Cambridge
Period	20/11/25 → 21/11/25
Internet address	https://scf.acm.org/2025/

Keywords

circular design
structural reuse
shape segmentation
wind turbine blade
pumptrack

Thematic collaboration

TU Delft Wind Energy Institute (DUWIND)

Country (case study)

Netherlands

Access to Document

10.1145/3745778.3766656

3745778.3766656Final published version, 67.8 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Pupping, J. K. R., Riso, M., Popescu, M., Bousseau, A., & Joustra, J. J. (2025). From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design. In M. Popescu, B. Jones, J. Carstensen, E. Vouga, M. Konakovic Lukovic, & S. N. Spencer (Eds.), SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings Article 1 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3745778.3766656

Pupping, J.K.R. ; Riso, Marzia ; Popescu, M. et al. / From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design. SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings. editor / M. Popescu ; B. Jones ; J. Carstensen ; E. Vouga ; M. Konakovic Lukovic ; S.N. Spencer. New York, NY : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2025.

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title = "From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design",

abstract = "We explore the fabrication of curved surfaces by reusing panels extracted from decommissioned wind turbine blades, using cycling pumptracks as a case study. We first present real-world prototypes of pumptrack modules that we manufactured to evaluate the practicality of this reuse scenario and to define the boundary conditions for harvesting blade panels and assembling a track. We then propose an algorithm to optimize the segmentation of a wind turbine blade into quadrilateral panels whose sides fall within a small set of compatible boundaries. These panels form a library of modules that designers can connect side by side to create pumptracks of various lengths and curvatures. Together, these contributions provide a proof-of-concept of how computer-aided design and manufacturing can support circular design through the reuse of curved surfaces.",

keywords = "circular design, structural reuse, shape segmentation, wind turbine blade, pumptrack",

author = "J.K.R. Pupping and Marzia Riso and M. Popescu and Adrien Bousseau and J.J. Joustra",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1145/3745778.3766656",

language = "English",

editor = "M. Popescu and B. Jones and J. Carstensen and E. Vouga and \{Konakovic Lukovic\}, M. and S.N. Spencer",

booktitle = "SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)",

address = "United States",

note = "ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication, SCF ; Conference date: 20-11-2025 Through 21-11-2025",

url = "https://scf.acm.org/2025/",

}

Pupping, JKR, Riso, M, Popescu, M, Bousseau, A & Joustra, JJ 2025, From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design. in M Popescu, B Jones, J Carstensen, E Vouga, M Konakovic Lukovic & SN Spencer (eds), SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings., 1, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, NY, ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, 20/11/25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3745778.3766656

From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design. / Pupping, J.K.R.; Riso, Marzia; Popescu, M. et al.
SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings. ed. / M. Popescu; B. Jones; J. Carstensen; E. Vouga; M. Konakovic Lukovic; S.N. Spencer. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2025. 1.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

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T1 - From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design

AU - Pupping, J.K.R.

AU - Riso, Marzia

AU - Popescu, M.

AU - Bousseau, Adrien

AU - Joustra, J.J.

N1 - Conference code: 10

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - We explore the fabrication of curved surfaces by reusing panels extracted from decommissioned wind turbine blades, using cycling pumptracks as a case study. We first present real-world prototypes of pumptrack modules that we manufactured to evaluate the practicality of this reuse scenario and to define the boundary conditions for harvesting blade panels and assembling a track. We then propose an algorithm to optimize the segmentation of a wind turbine blade into quadrilateral panels whose sides fall within a small set of compatible boundaries. These panels form a library of modules that designers can connect side by side to create pumptracks of various lengths and curvatures. Together, these contributions provide a proof-of-concept of how computer-aided design and manufacturing can support circular design through the reuse of curved surfaces.

AB - We explore the fabrication of curved surfaces by reusing panels extracted from decommissioned wind turbine blades, using cycling pumptracks as a case study. We first present real-world prototypes of pumptrack modules that we manufactured to evaluate the practicality of this reuse scenario and to define the boundary conditions for harvesting blade panels and assembling a track. We then propose an algorithm to optimize the segmentation of a wind turbine blade into quadrilateral panels whose sides fall within a small set of compatible boundaries. These panels form a library of modules that designers can connect side by side to create pumptracks of various lengths and curvatures. Together, these contributions provide a proof-of-concept of how computer-aided design and manufacturing can support circular design through the reuse of curved surfaces.

KW - circular design

KW - structural reuse

KW - shape segmentation

KW - wind turbine blade

KW - pumptrack

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023694436

U2 - 10.1145/3745778.3766656

DO - 10.1145/3745778.3766656

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings

A2 - Popescu, M.

A2 - Jones, B.

A2 - Carstensen, J.

A2 - Vouga, E.

A2 - Konakovic Lukovic, M.

A2 - Spencer, S.N.

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York, NY

T2 - ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication

Y2 - 20 November 2025 through 21 November 2025

ER -

Pupping JKR, Riso M, Popescu M, Bousseau A, Joustra JJ. From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design. In Popescu M, Jones B, Carstensen J, Vouga E, Konakovic Lukovic M, Spencer SN, editors, SCF 2025 - 10th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication. Proceedings. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). 2025. 1 doi: 10.1145/3745778.3766656

From blades to tracks: a case study in structural reuse of curved surfaces for circular design

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Thematic collaboration

Country (case study)

Access to Document

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Cite this