Massive concrete umbrellas to be used as a coastal shield

Scientists from the University of Princeton in New Jersey, have introduced a radical structural system that could protect coastal areas from extreme weather phenomena.

The researchers have published their findings in the Journal of Structural Engineering.

The rise of the global population living in coastal areas along with the drastic weather impacts of climate change have resulted in an urgent need to develop systems capable of protecting people and infrastructure.

A scientific team assessed the potential of such a system that consists of movable, massive concrete "umbrellas" with a hyperbolic paraboloid shape. Those structures would function as a shade provider under normal weather but they would expand and act as a protective barrier when extreme storms strike. “It’s the first time that anyone has really tried to integrate architecture as an inherent component to a coastal countermeasure,” Shengzhe Wang, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University, stated.

The team conducted numerical simulations to evaluate the structural performance of the suggested structures which consisted of 8-meter concrete shells at each side, lying on top of support columns. They also examined the part that connects the columns with the shells.

To incorporate the storm impact, scientists used hurricane data collected for over a century along the U.S. East Coast and modeled a storm that produces waves with a maximum height of 5.5 meters. They found that the umbrellas would perform well and remain safe when waves reach up to 75% of the incorporated height. “These shells are so thin (10 centimeters width) that anyone looking at this would not be inclined to believe that these structures would be capable of stopping such large forces from water. But we’re able to take advantage of the geometry of the hypar (hyperbolic paraboloid) shape that gives the structure the additional strength that’s required,” Wang, said.

Currently, the team is creating scale models to validate the results obtained by the numerical analyses. The dynamic effect of water and air flow will be assessed using a water channel and a wind tunnel, respectively. 

The authors stated that they will also investigate utilizing more environmental-friendly materials and include solar panels to generate renewable power.

The architectural inspiration came from Félix Candela, an architect who designed structures with a hyperbolic paraboloid thin shell roofs in Mexico more than half a century ago.