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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 106
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL STRUCTURES TECHNOLOGY
Edited by:
Paper 211

Large Elastic Deformations in Bimetallic Non-Standard Geometries

V. Charpentier1,2,3, L. Rhode-Barbarigos1, S. Adriaenssens1, O. Baverel2 and K. Schmidt1

1Form Finding Laboratory, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Princeton University, United States of America
2Laboratoire Navier, Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, Champs-sur-Marne, France
3Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Vaulx-en-Velin, France

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
V. Charpentier, L. Rhode-Barbarigos, S. Adriaenssens, O. Baverel, K. Schmidt, "Large Elastic Deformations in Bimetallic Non-Standard Geometries", in , (Editors), "Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 211, 2014. doi:10.4203/ccp.106.211
Keywords: bimetallic elements, adaptive architecture, numerical modeling, physical modeling, form-finding..

Summary
Elements composed of bimetallic materials have been available for decades providing actuation through thermal elastic deformations in devices such as thermostats (e.g. domestic appliances), compensation for temperature changes in clock mechanisms as well as electrical circuit breakers. However, recent architectural projects have extended their use in large-scale applications and highlighted their potential as actuation devices in adaptive structures. For the implementation of bimetallic elements in large-scale and complex-shaped implementations, a combination of existing theory, experimental testing and numerical modeling is required.

This paper focuses on modeling the behavior of bimetallic elements with complex shapes. Three bimetallic elements selected for their anticipated deformed shapes and potential architectural implementations are investigated numerically and experimentally. Through a parametric study, the geometry of the elements is found to significantly affect their behavior. Geometry can be thus effectively used to trigger large deformations in bimetallic elements. However, for complex shaped elements the influence of geometrical parameters is not always easy to predict. This study extends current knowledge on bimetallic elements for more complex shapes providing support for their implementation in novel adaptive architectural applications.

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