STRUCTURES + BUILDINGS
ABC-UTC also sponsors technical sessions at national and interna- tional conferences, presents research results at these meetings, and dis- seminates the most recent findings to relevant Transportation Research Board and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials committees. Learn more about the Accelerated Bridge Construction-University Transportation Center project at https://abc-utc.fiu.edu. More informa-
tion about the University of Nevada Reno’s Earthquake Engineering Laboratory and Large-Scale Structures Laboratory is available at www.unr.edu/cceer/facilities-and-equipment.
Information provided by University of Nevada, Reno (www.unr.edu).
Designed for extreme weather
Commissioned and maintained by the Brazilian Navy for the Brazilian Science and Technology Ministry, the $100 million Comandante Fer- raz Antarctic Station (EACF) is a scientific research outpost that will be located 600 miles south of the tip of South America. Scheduled for completion in 2018, the 34,000-square-foot EACF will support tech- nological research in a secure work space, while providing safe and comfortable living conditions. It will also minimize impact on wildlife and the environment. To determine the most effective design, the Brazilian Navy held an international competition in 2013, won by Estudio 41, a Brazilian architecture firm. According to Estudio 41 lead architect, Emerson Vidigal, “The design takes into consideration the challenges of sup- porting technological performance in such an extreme climate, while still considering the facility’s aesthetics, offering a comfortable and secure work space. Taking into account the topography of its site, we created a design that minimizes impacts on surrounding wildlife and plant life in the immediate environment, while providing an optimum work and living space.” The design divides the station into two core blocks that are organized according to function. The upper block houses living quarters for 64 in- habitants, including cabins, dining, and service areas. The lower block integrates central work spaces, accommodating 17 laboratories and op- eration and maintenance zones. Another lower level houses the central barn and garages. Additional component structures intersect and join the three component areas, providing communal space including an auditorium, cybercafé, library, meeting room, and video conferencing room. Antarctic station’s structural thermal breaks help provide a comfortable platform for scientific study in the world’s most inhospitable environment.
Three primary factors drove the building’s exterior design: tempera- ture, snow accumulation, and wind speed. Clad in concealed-fitting, galvanized and coated sheet steel panels with rigid polyurethane foam insulation, the façade is corrosion-resistant, low-maintenance, and highly resistant to wind, driving snow, and intense cold. In addition, the EACF is fabricated in elongated, streamlined, prefabricated modu- lar sections — continuously joined and arranged linearly — to mitigate wind force. The steel structure supporting the floors consists of trusses positioned along a grid, modulated with 19.7-foot by 39-foot panels. Latticed, vertical braces support the roofs. Walls are placed at a maxi- mum of 39 feet apart. All of these components sit atop a system of steel pillars, which transfer the load of the building onto the ice. To mitigate what may be the most extreme example of thermal bridging on earth, the project team is deploying 218 Schöck Isokorb structural thermal breaks (STBs) between the building’s interior steel framing and its exterior steel support pillars and staircases. An engineer inspects installation of a flange-mounted Isokörb Type S22 structural thermal break onto the steel support column system that supports the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station above the frozen terrain while preventing heat loss.
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csengineermag.com
august 2018
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