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High demand for living and working space as well as the corresponding infrastructure, caused by a growing population and increasing prosperity worldwide, leads to increased consumption of mineral resources. This is accompanied by high usage of grey energy and a high output of greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptive structures represent a promising approach for mass and resource savings. Through the interaction of actuators, sensors and control units, the structure can adapt to the external loads to reduce stresses and deformations. As a result, the building material required can be reduced. For actuators integrated into slabs, new challenges arise due to the multi-axial load transfer. In particular, the aim is to achieve the largest possible effective range of the applied moment to reduce the number of actuators required. One approach is to optimize the geometry of the force-introducing surfaces inside the structural element. This paper presents a study about the correlations of the geometric parameters using numerical simulations. This enables the pre-dimensioning of the actuator and is thus a first step in its design.

The construction sector is responsible for high grey energy consumption and high greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptive structures can be a suitable solution to counteract this. Actuation of a beam to reduce the mass by counteracting the deflection with integrated fluidic actuators has been proven in previous studies. New challenges are brought about with the actuation of slabs due to the multi-axial load transfer. Many actuator principles are conceivable for this application. A combination of uniaxially acting actuators and complex designs that generate forces in different spatial directions in a targeted manner are possible. This paper presents various principles for the development of actuators integrated into the cross-section of a slab. These are able to manipulate the multi-axial load transfer behaviour directly. For this purpose, the actuator principles are classified according to various aspects. In a second step, numerical investigations are used to prove the effectiveness of the actuator principles.

An interdisciplinary research team of the University of Stuttgart has been working extensively since 2017 on the development and integration of adaptive systems and technologies in order to provide solutions for a more sustainable built environment. An experimental 36.5 m tall high-rise building, called D1244, was designed and completed in 2021 to show the potential of adaptive structures and facades as well as to verify on a real scale the developed systems and the related numerical predictions. The building was designed to offer a flexible experimental platform: each component is dismountable so that structural as well as facades elements can be replaced with new ones introducing new functionalities to be investigated. The structure is currently equipped with twenty-four hydraulic actuators that are installed in the columns and diagonal bracers. Strain gauge sensors and an optical tracking system are employed to monitor the state of the structural system. This paper describes the design and construction of the adaptive tower as well as the preliminary experimental testing on different scaled structural prototypes. The research work on these prototypes provided relevant information for the final set-up of the high-rise building. An outlook on future research, including the planned first structural testing phase and the implementation of adaptive facade systems, is included at the end.

The building industry accounts for half of the global resource consumption and roughly one third of global CO2 emissions. Global population growth and increasing resource scarcities require engineers and architects to build for more people with less material and emissions. One promising solution are adaptive load-bearing structures. Here, the load-bearing structure is equipped with actuators, sensors, and a control unit which allows the structure to adapt to different load cases, resulting in substantial material savings. While the first prototypes use industry standard actuators to manipulate deformations and stress states, it is essential to develop actuator concepts which fit the specific requirements of civil engineering structures. This paper introduces new concepts for linear actuators, developed within the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1244 Adaptive Skins and Structures for the Built Environment of Tomorrow, which can be used as adaptive concrete columns. The concept of an actuator which actuates a concrete column by external compression through hydraulic pressure is discussed in further detail. This concept allows for controlled axial extension while also increasing the compressive strength of the concrete column.