Anti-collapse structure inspired by lizards

The self-isolating design of damaged areas by Spanish researchers will help high-rise buildings avoid chain collapse.

A research team from the ICITECH Institute of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) developed a special method to build highly durable buildings, Interesting Engineering reported on May 16. Inspired by the ability of lizards to shed their tails when attacked, researchers have found a method that could become the final defense to prevent a skyscraper from collapsing.

The Champlain Towers building in Florida collapsed in June 2021. (Photo: Engineering News Record).

Lizards employ a self-discarding defense mechanism that allows them to escape the claws of predators by shedding one or more appendages. The tail consists of several segments, each segment is a point that can be broken off. Current building design focuses on load redistribution in the event of component failure. This method of improving the bond between structural parts is very effective for small initial damage. However, when major damage is encountered, the above method can increase the risk of chain collapse. Recent accidents such as the Champlain Towers collapse in the US in 2021 or the Abadan disaster in Iran in 2022 all originated from major damage.

The ICITECH-UPV research team sought to overcome the above limitation by introducing a "fuse structure". They developed a new philosophy for building buildings that can withstand threats such as floods, landslides, aging or even poor maintenance. This principle is similar to protecting an electrical system from overload by connecting different grid components through fuses, according to Nirvan Makoond, a member of ICITECH-UPV and co-author of the study.

The new design maintains structural stability under normal operating conditions. However, when damage is unavoidable, the team's design prevents the risk of complete collapse and protects the rest of the building, reducing the scale of the loss, while making construction costs unbearable. tell.

To test the design in practice, the team constructed a full-size building from precast concrete. When major damage occurs, they observe that the damage is isolated, helping to prevent the building from completely collapsing. According to Jose M. Adam, co-author of the study, the new design application will help avoid catastrophic collapses, protect lives and minimize economic losses. The research results were published in detail on May 15 in the journal Nature.