The goal of this research project is to find an answer to today's most urgent social and ecological questions as the global population continuously increases and the available resources remain limited. As the central approach to the solution of this problem, adaptive elements will be included in the structure, the interior and the façade of an experimental 37 m tall building. This paper introduces the topic of adaptivity in building structures and provides an overview of the research topics applied in this globally unique adaptive high-rise building. Due to the complexity of research topics of this Collaborative Research Centre, this paper only covers the research concerning the experimental high-rise building.

The rapidly growing world population is a great challenge for the building industry. Due to the impending scarcity of resources, it is not possible to provide the growing mankind with sufficient living and work places and infrastructure with current construction methods. For wide-spanning beams and slabs, the decisive design criteria are mainly determined by deformations rather than stresses, since deflections must be limited. This leads to structural elements, which are not fully utilized. However, if the deformations can be reduced, significant material savings can be achieved. Sensors, actuators, and a control unit enable components subjected to bending to adapt to high but rare loads. This article presents a solution that allows beams to react actively to loads by use of integrated actuators. The newly developed integrated hydraulic actuators allow the structure to react specifically to a wide range of load cases, by adjusting the internal hydraulic pressure. This is a clear advantage in load-bearing systems because there is often no dominant load case. This internal actuation concept is a new approach, as previous adaptive structures either have externally added actuators or are composed of truss structures in which single bars are actuated. In this paper, the concept is explained analytically, simulated with the finite element method and validated experimentally.

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To enable efficient and effective development of additively manufactured parts, the development process can be supported by a tailored information platform. In this paper, an Internet-based information platform for this purpose is presented. A survey in an industrial environment with 35 participants was conducted to determine the beneficial functions and information on the platform. This paper presents the results of the survey and the realization of an information platform as a digital support tool for designing additively manufactured parts.

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