Reconfigurable Circular Building Structure with Reduced Number of Actuators

Reconfigurable building structures may obtain different shapes depending on varying functional, environmental, and/or external loading conditions. Their capability to adapt through shape transformations enhances their resilience and sustainability compared to static, fixed-shaped ones. In this framework, rigid-bar linkages have increased controllability and flexibility in terms of kinematics and motion planning. Respective concepts developed with reduced number of actuators refer to reconfigurable buildings with rectangular and torus-shaped plan sections. In enabling structural reconfigurability in circular buildings, the vertical effective crank–slider kinematics mechanism is implemented in a spatial circular linkage structure. The structure is investigated in terms of kinematics considering three shapes that correspond to two axisymmetric and one nonaxisymmetric elevation. This is followed by a finite-element analysis considering the self-weight and wind loads acting on the spatial system. The investigation refers to the analysis of the kinematics through parametric associative design and the system’s load–deformation behavior in different configurations obtained throughout the transformations.