BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adaptive Structures: Infinitely Stiff\, Extremely Slender\, Ultra- Light Weight - Dr Gennaro Senatore - University College London DTSTART:20161028T140000Z DTEND:20161028T150000Z UID:TALK68494@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Lorna Everett DESCRIPTION:Designing structures with minimal environmental impact is now a serious concern in the construction sector. Active control has been used in civil engineering structures for a variety of purposes. The most wides pread application so far has been in vibration control. The potential of u sing adaptation to save material mass has been investigated by some but wh ether the energy saved by using less material makes up the energy consumed through control and actuation is a question that has so far received litt le attention.\n\nDuring this seminar Dr Gennaro Senatore of University Col lege London will present the formulation of a novel methodology to design adaptive structures. This design method seeks to synthesise structural con figurations that are optimum hybrids between a passive and a fully active structure in order to minimise the sum of the embodied and operational ene rgy of the structure. Instead of using more material to cope with the effe ct of loads\, here strategically located active elements redirect the load path to homogenise the stresses and keep deflections within limits by cha nging the shape of the structure. To ensure the embodied energy saved this way is not used up to by actuation\, the adaptive solution is designed to cope with ordinary loading events using only passive load bearing capacit y whilst relying on active control to deal with larger events that have sm aller probability of occurrence. A nested optimisation scheme finds the ac tive-passive system that corresponds to the minimum of the sum of embodied and operational energy.\n\nUsing this method\, a large scale prototype st ructure was designed and built in collaboration with Expedition Engineerin g at the UCL Structures Laboratory. The prototype is an ultra-slender 6m ( length) x 0.8m (width) x 0.16m (depth) (37.5:1 span to depth) cantilevered truss structure controlled in real-time to maintain serviceability condit ions under loading. The structure is 80% lighter than an equivalent passiv e one\, the data gathered from the experiments in terms of energy savings confirm the numerical findings obtained with the numerical simulations. Du ring the seminar key features of this prototype\, including control archit ecture\, will be discussed in some details. This prototype has been shortl isted for an IStructE Structural Award 2016 and it was exhibited in a few key locations including the IASS 2015 in Amsterdam and a month solo exhibi tion at the London Building Centre.\n\nThe research to date has successful ly demonstrated that up to 70% reduction in structural weight and 50% of t he whole-life energy (embodied and operational) was achievable on truss li ke structures. Several case studies will be presented ranging range from p lanar portal frames and catenary arch bridges to space trusses including d oubly curved grid-shells and exoskeleton structures.\n\nMore info:\n"gsena to.re/adaptiveStructuresUCL":http://www.ucl.ac.uk/usar/who-we-are/cdt-stud ents/gennaro-senatore\n"gsenato.re/adaptiveStructuresExhibition":https://w ww.linkedin.com/pulse/moments-from-adaptive-structures-exhibition-building -centre-senatore\n"gsenato.re/adaptiveStructuresNCE":https://www.newcivile ngineer.com/future-tech/super-tall-super-smart-adaptive-structures/1001043 6.article\n"gsenato.re/istructeAward":https://www.istructe.org/structurala wards/the-shortlist/small-projects/adaptive-truss\n\n!https://www.ucl.ac.u k/usar/who-we-are/cdt-students/project-images/Gennaro_on_Truss_BW.jpg! LOCATION: Cambridge University Engineering Department\, LR6 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR