Safety

Safety

© Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance
Safety

Natural disasters or acts of terrorism often result in the collapse of buildings. Proactive planning and the use of innovative building materials can however greatly reduce the risk of collapse. The Alliance business unit "Safety" connects safety aspects with the objectives of building insulation and architectonic design to create multifunctional construction elements. In addition to disaster avoidance topics, the Building Innovation Alliance also examines issues relating to the normal loads carried by buildings.

Safety Starts with the Material
Particularly relevant to building safety are building materials which can lessen shock waves in case of an earthquake or an explosion due to their high ability to absorb energy. Thus e.g. a polymer concrete developed in the Building Innovation Alliance containing fibers for reinforcement in addition to porous organic filler materials can greatly reduce the destructive impact of detonations due to its high pore volume.

 

Protective Second Skin for Buildings
In order to more reliably protect buildings from damage by short-term dynamic events, membrane facades are being developed which can be installed in front of the actual building facade. With a partial perforation they lessen shock and pressure loads and at the same time function as a climatic skin. These textile outer facades can also serve as explosion and shatter protection for particularly endangered buildings such as embassies, government facilities and police stations.

All-Rounders
Another field of research is concerned with system solutions that can be adapted for various application areas or which can be subsequently upgraded. One example here are mobile soundproofing systems which can be converted into blast protection elements. Originally conceived as acoustic protection against temporary noise sources, these construction elements can be filled with water or heavy materials to turn them into safety barriers protecting against explosions. Specially developed support structures ensure stability in case of a detonation.

Projects

 

Safety

Structural Measures

Fraunhofer EMI develops materials for protective structures and for the protection of infrastructure against extreme loadings such as explosions, fires, strong-wind events as well as earthquakes or flood.

 

Safety

BetoFlux

Portable magnetic flux leakage inspection system for detecting corrosion damage in pre-stressed concrete poles

 

Safety

BetoScan

Robot for concrete inspection scrutinizes bridges and parking decks

 

Safety

Biogenic Sulfuric Acid Corrosion BSA

Materials testing

 

Safety

FluxCrawler

Autonomously scrambling system for guy wires

 

Safety

MoniDAQ

Self-sustaining monitoring platform for permanent condition monitoring of infrastructure constructions

 

Safety

Multirotor-UAS

Aerial survey of constructions

 

Safety

VITRUV

The VITRUV software integrates security aspects directly into the urban planning process. Employed already at the city’s concept level, VITRUV renders more sustainable and more robust cities. 

 

Safety

Proven protection in reinforced steel

The centerpiece of this development is sensors from the think tank of the “Wireless & Transponders Systems” business unit of the Fraunhofer IMS. These sensors detect corrosion in reinforced steel at an early stage because of invasive ions.

 

Safety

Infrared sensor technology – saves energy and warns of fire

Based on microbolometers, the IR detectors capture the emitted radiation passively and use it to derive the temperature. With these abilities, the detectors can regulate the air conditioning of rooms and buildings intelligently and add significantly to energy savings.

 

Safety

RFID technology in difficult environments

Starting in the control cabinets, a fire can spread throughout the wires in a building due to the fire load. In order to prevent such fires, the scientists at the Fraunhofer IMS tackled the problem with wireless sensor transponders.

 

Safety

Development of ultra-high-performance momentum connectors

The aim of the project is the development of sensor-controlled, ultra-high-performance momentum connectors with high energy dissipation potential for indestructible high-rise buildings in earthquake areas.

 

Safety

Improving the fire behaviour of synthetic leather

These investigations were carried out into whether the incorporation of intumescent aggregate mixtures in PU and PVC bulk can result in improved fire behaviour.

 

Safety

Development of an intumescent fire protection coating for ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)

The researchers in the Department of Structural Engineering and Construction had the task of finding out whether the successful high-performance fire protection coatings developed for wood could offer approaches for solutions.

 

Safety

H₂O WOOD-CONTROLLER

The H₂O WOOD-CONTROLLER enables a comprehensive construction monitoring, by using the specially designed laminated timber 2.0.