Anagrafe della ricerca

120 new buildings taller than 200 m are completed each year, with an increasing demand in new space for residential and commercial activities. Post 8/11 WTC terroristic attack, design principles requiring the structures to be robust and progressive collapse safe were strengthen in Building Codes. In high- rise buildings, the most catastrophic collapses are triggered by extensive initial failures and are characterized by a pancake-type propagation, essentially governed by the dynamics of the falling construction. Current mitigation techniques are inefficient for such collapse type as most studies have focused on different collapses mechanisms in which statics play a major role. Hence, high-rise buildings are vulnerable and collapse unsafe when extensive damages, e.g. explosions or fires, occur. Addressing the requirements of the current design practices, preventing progressive collapse is crucial during unpredictable and high-impact events. The project aims at preventing the progressive collapse of high-rise buildings by developing a technology to dissipate the kinetic energy involved in the collapse. Two types of energy absorption devices, column-like and plate-like, will be conceptualized and the requirements in term of absorption capacity will be determined with numerical simulations of damaged structural schemes. Devices shape, geometry and material, accounting also for the possibility to include engineered metallic foams, will be studied and prototypes of the devices will be first produced thanks to advanced manufacturing and 3D printing techniques, and then tested. The project will go beyond the mere design of new devices, it will also produce a framework for arranging in an optimal way these devices in a building, considering various collapse scenarios and structural performance under different loads. The results will contribute to a novel design strategy for high-rise buildings, offering a new perspective for academic researchers, engineers and architects, and a basis for updating building codes and design guidelines. The project aligns with the desiderata of SDGs 9 and 11 in terms of resilience for cities and infrastructures and has a special focus on sustainability, aiming to protect high- rise buildings under extreme scenarios. The result of the project is mainly addressed to the construction industry.