Abstract
Taking advantage of adaptivity in the field of civil engineering is subject to ongoing research. Integration of adaptive elements in the load bearing structure is already well established in many other engineering fields, albeit mostly for different purposes than withstanding predominantly static loads. First investigations promise substantial material and energy saving potentials also in the field of civil engineering, especially considering high-rise buildings or wide span structures, like roofs or bridges. Adaptive civil structures offer new potentials to tackle current challenges emanating from emission problems and shortage of materials. Therefore, we compare the possible minimum weight designs for different actuator placement approaches and for different structural topologies, fulfilling different constraints for high-rise buildings. We focus on case studies of illustrative examples to show, which advantages and disadvantages can be expected from a specific design. The overarching aim is to learn how truss and beam structures should be designed to exhibit good performance as an adaptive structure.
Highlights
To tackle today’s challenges arising from extensive material consumption, waste production, and emissions, innovative solutions are needed from the building industry
New challenges arise in the design of adaptive structures compared to the design of passive structures
It is well-known how to lay out a structure so that it is efficient, reliable, redundant, cheap, etc
Summary
To tackle today’s challenges arising from extensive material consumption, waste production, and emissions, innovative solutions are needed from the building industry. Buildings are designed to withstand occurring loads and simultaneously satisfy defined conditions by using a large amount of material, leading to a large amount of emissions and waste. For most of a building’s life span, some of this material is not needed, because extreme load conditions are not permanent. The incorporation of active elements in passive structures to make the structures adaptive offers a promising way of using material more efficiently. The underlying idea is to significantly reduce embodied energy in built structures by avoiding the use of material that is necessary only in a small part of the building’s life span to maintain, e.g., serviceability limits. In times of increasing demand for sand and other scarce raw materials, adaptive structures offer a very promising approach to more sustainable buildings
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