scholarly journals Reliability as a Key Driver for a Sustainable Design of Adaptive Load-Bearing Structures

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 895
Author(s):  
Dshamil Efinger ◽  
Andreas Ostertag ◽  
Martin Dazer ◽  
David Borschewski ◽  
Stefan Albrecht ◽  
...  

The consumption of construction materials and the pollution caused by their production can be reduced by the use of reliable adaptive load-bearing structures. Adaptive load-bearing structures are able to adapt to different load cases by specifically manipulating internal stresses using actuators installed in the structure. One main aspect of quality is reliability. A verification of reliability, and thus the safety of conventional structures, was a design issue. When it comes to adaptive load-bearing structures, the material savings reduce the stiffness of the structure, whereby integrated actuators with sensors and a control take over the stiffening. This article explains why the conventional design process is not sufficient for adaptive load-bearing structures and proposes a method for demonstrating improved reliability and environmental sustainability. For this purpose, an exemplary adaptive load-bearing structure is introduced. A linear elastic model, simulating tension in the elements of the adaptive load-bearing structure, supports the analysis. By means of a representative local load-spectrum, the operating life is estimated based on Woehler curves given by the Eurocode for the critical notches. Environmental sustainability is increased by including reliability and sustainability in design. For an exemplary high-rise adaptive load-bearing structure, this increase is more than 50%.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Liu ◽  
Hanlong Liu ◽  
Yang Xiao ◽  
Qingsheng Chen ◽  
Yufeng Gao ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 365-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Herty ◽  
Siegfried Müller ◽  
Nils Gerhard ◽  
Gaoming Xiang ◽  
Bing Wang

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bonfield

The environmental sustainability of materials used in construction applications is driving a requirement for the quanti-fcation of performance attributes of such materials. For example, the European Union (EU) Energy Performance in Buildings Directive will give commercial buildings an energy rating when rented or sold. The Code for Sustainable Homes launched by the U.K. Government's Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in January 2007 sets out the requirement for all new homes to be carbonneutral by 2016. In addition, homes in the United Kingdom will need to signifcantly reduce water consumption from today's average 160 liters (1) per person per day to less than 801 per person per day. Similarly stringent targets are required for waste, materials, and other factors. Such environmental and energy standards are complementing characteristics such as strength, stiffness, durability, impact, cost, and expected life with factors such as “environmental profle,” “ecopoints” (a single unit measurement of environmental impact arising from a product throughout its lifecycle that is used in the United Kingdom), “carbon footprint” (amount of CO2 produced for the lifecycle of the item), “recycled content,” and “chain of custody” (a legal term that refers to the ability to guarantee the identity and integrity of a specimen from collection through to reporting of test results).


2020 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 07001
Author(s):  
Hans Henning Stutz ◽  
Peter Norlyk ◽  
Kenneth Sørensen ◽  
Lars Vabbersgaard Andersen ◽  
Kenny Kataoka Sørensen ◽  
...  

The increasing need for energy storage technology has led to a massive interest in novel energy storage methods. The energy geomembrane system is such a novel energy storage method. The concept of the system is briefly introduced, and a holistic numerical model of the system is presented. The model uses advanced finite-element techniques to model the energy storage system using fluid cavity elements. The developed geomembrane energy system is modelled with different constitutive models to represent the soil behaviour: a linear elastic model, a nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb model, and a hypoplastic constitutive model. The consequences of these different models on the results are studied. Hereby, the focus is the first inflation and deflation cycle of the system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Wolfram Schmidt ◽  
Mike Otieno ◽  
Kolawole Olonade ◽  
Nonkululeko Radebe ◽  
Henri Van-Damme ◽  
...  

Africa is urgently in need of adequate basic infrastructure and housing, and it is one of the continents where massive construction activities are on the rise. There is a vast variety of potentially viable resources for sustainable construction on the continents, and consequently, the continent can bring innovative, greener technologies based on local sources effectively into practice. However, unlike established concrete constituents from industrialised countries in the global North, most of the innovation potentials from the African continent have not yet been the focus of intensive fundamental and applied research. This clearly limits the implementation of more sustainable local technologies. This paper presents a case for the need to first appreciate the rich diversity and versatility of the African continent which is often not realistically perceived and appreciated. It discusses specific innovation potentials and challenges for cementitious materials and concrete technology based on local materials derived from sources on the African continent. The unique African materials solutions are presented and discussed, from mineral binders over chemical admixtures and fibres to reinforcement and aggregates. Due to the pressing challenges faced by Africa, with regards to population growth and urbanisation, the focus is not only put on the technological (durability, robustness and safety) and environmental sustainability, but also strongly on socio-economic applicability, adaptability and scalability. This includes a review of alternative, traditional and vernacular construction technologies such as materials-saving structures that help reducing cementitious materials. Eventually, a strategic research roadmap is hypothesised that points out the most relevant potentials and research needs for quick implementation of more localised construction materials.


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