PFI-RP: Dynamically-Adaptive, Smart Morphing Building Facades for Wind Hazard Mitigation

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Research Partnership (PFI-RP) project is an approach to mitigate the effects of high-intensity, multi-directional, and turbulent wind events on building structures. Specifically, new technology-enabled choices for the design of building envelopes will be introduced, helping engineers, contractors, insurers, and owners achieve safe and economic buildings. The cyber-physical package that will form the backbone of this innovation may accelerate the transition of research to practice. This development may also address key challenges facing urban developments across geographic regions that are vulnerable to extreme wind events. In particular, this innovation has a unique potential to be integrated into the growing industry of adaptive building facades for energy generation and cost saving purposes. The developments resulting from this PFI-RP project are anticipated to be scalable and adoptable by other infrastructure sectors where wind resistance is critical. Among these additional markets are industrial facilities, bridges, wind turbines, and aerospace structures. The proposed project seeks to develop a cyber-physical package providing an end-to-end approach for the analysis and design of building envelopes equipped with smart morphing facades. In response to the building industry market needs, this package includes all the modules required for wind-structure interaction simulations including facade porosity and roughness analyses, as well as sensing and actuation designs. To deliver a holistic package, the main research objectives are threefold: (1) establishing multi-fidelity surrogate models for a variety of building shapes and facade design characteristics; (2) developing high-performance computing and machine learning techniques to enable the intelligent sensing, computing, and actuation of building envelope components in near real-time; and (3) transforming performance-based wind design strategies for a suite of performance objectives, including lowering wind-induced loads, reducing member sizes, and increasing real-estate areas. The project’s outcome is anticipated to address fundamental questions and practical issues regarding the scale-up of the introduced technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.