Future engineering structures for the urban habitat and infrastructure
| Author(s): |
Mike Schlaich
|
|---|---|
| Medium: | conference paper |
| Language(s): | English |
| Conference: | IABSE Symposium: Metropolitan Habitats and Infrastructure, Shanghai, China, 22-24 September 2004 |
| Published in: | IABSE Symposium Shanghai 2004 |
| Page(s): | 102-103 |
| Year: | 2004 |
| DOI: | 10.2749/222137804796291089 |
| Abstract: | Engineering structures are passive. Although, they are designed and built with ingenuity, these structures are static and unmoving for the remainder of their existence. They are subjected to all kinds of external effects such as traffic, temperature, wind and earthquake without being able to adjust much to these changing conditions. Also, currently more and more multi-use and multi-purpose structures are required. However, present-day structures are not able to adapt easily to changing user requirements.Wouldn't it be nice if our structures would be able to actively or autonomously convert to fulfil whatever requests are needed of them? If they were equipped with “intelligence, would this allow them to disappear for example when assaulted by storms and to reappear and reopen again afterwards?“Structures appearing in nature can serve as a guide in creating active, responsive structures. The structures found in nature have undergone millions of years of structural optimisation. Natural structures are therefore light-weight and are able to adjust quite well to changing boundary conditions.Another factor is increasing our ability to create active structures. Computers and advances in electronics have had a tremendous effect on formerly inert engineering systems. These include automobiles, airplanes and domestic appliances. To a certain degree they become autonomous mainly through microsystems in the form of inexpensive mass-produced microchips.Stimulated by these advances, several attempts have been made to also apply such intelligence to engineering structures. These approaches have led to new adjectives being applied to the term structure: adaptive, intelligent or autonomous structures.In this paper the application of bionics and modern technology to light-weight engineering structures and its potential to affect the urban infrastructure and habitat is studied. Looking at the future, the use of active micro-systems to achieve self-directed structures will be investigated. Returning to the current reality, examples of existing convertible bridges and roof structures that adapt to changing requirements will be presented. |
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