Anti-seismic(?) building = expensive, complicated, elitist, until today.
Vs.
Gravity = anti-seismic(!), economical, simple, affordable, as of today.
In this section, we illustrate the major practical applications of Gravity.
We are looking for companies to exploit the potential of its patent, develop it and become leaders in the anti-seismic construction sector
If, on the other hand, you are interested in the principles of its functioning, click below;
we look for institutions to deepen their dynamics and enter the history of earthquake engineering by writing the new rules.
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In-fill walls
in reinforced concrete frame structures
The problem
From the first simulations, Gravity seems to be a revolutionary anti-seismic solution, especially in a very specific but extremely widespread field, namely that of infill walls in buildings with reinforced concrete frame structures, which are the most widely used technique today, at least in Italy.
These filling walls, usually brick walls, are the real danger for buildings in the event of an earthquake; they are in fact rigid structures which, in the event of a shock, either collapse or block the elasticity of the pillars, stiffening the structures, until they yield in critical points.
Studies
On the effects of earthquakes on the infill walls in these buildings, I would like to quote a splendid presentation made by Prof. Ing. Luigi Coppola, of the Engineering Department of the University of Bergamo, entitled
"I dissesti strutturali e da sisma delle opere in calcestruzzo armato - 3", del 2017,
i.e. "Structural and earthquake instability of reinforced concrete works - 3 ", from 2017, from which I extracted the images above.
However, there is no link between Gravity and the figure of the professor, and none of his works or photos cited support a technique that, at the time of publication, simply did not yet exist.
In fact, scientific studies on Gravity's behaviour in various situations by universities and certified bodies have not yet begun.
The (non) solution
This problem, to date unsolved, has led to a definition of "anti-seismic building" which is very reminiscent of the concept of the survival cell of racing cars, where the driver is saved, but the rest of the car is destroyed.
In fact, buildings are considered anti-seismic when, in the event of high intensity earthquakes, they do not crumble down,
but collapse in a controlled and slowed way,
giving enough time to those who live there to save their lives,
or assuring the existence of safe niches inside the house that allow them to be repaired and survive.
As a result of such damage to the pillars or infill, it is however expected that these "anti-seismic buildings"
will be demolished
after such events.
The technique (today)
While resilient and elastic solutions are used for high-level construction, expensive and elitist, for most of the buildings being built today the solutions are mainly based on the reinforcement of the structures, to make each element even more integral to the rest of the building, normally with reinforced concrete curbs inserted in various ways between the brick rows.
For existing infill walls, there are systems similar to large nets that harness the wall from the outside and prevent it from collapsing in the event of a shock.
Once again these are techniques that involve a medium-sized earthquake, beyond which the building, even if it resisted, still becomes unusable and needs to be demolished.
Gravity
The infill walls built with the elements of Gravity, on the other hand, do not seem to stiffen the reinforced concrete frame and do not discharge the energy that invests them on it, but fragment it inside them, pushing, distancing themselves and lifting each other up. the other, sliding upwards alongside the pillars of the frame, moving before and with them.
This, in addition to relieving the stress of the load-bearing structures, would guarantee safety and lightness and, more importantly, would not require the demolition of the buildings after the earthquakes.
All the R&D part has yet to be implemented.
