| In the Long Museum Night, Berlin was presented with a special gift: the French artist Armel R�au built a multi-part city of art in the heart of the metropolis between Schlossplatz and Lustgarten. The highlight of R�au's "RefleCity" is a 22-meter high tower made of bamboo and equipped with a lighting system. But would the relatively thin bamboo sticks be able to bear the weight of such a large construction? And what would happen if a strong gust of wind struck the tower? These questions were answered when the planned tower was subjected to thorough testing at the Institute for Construction Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin.
R�au's bamboo tower is a 3D construction with a 13x15-meter base, rising 22 meters in height. The bamboos � each at least 80 mm in diameter � are arranged vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. This means that the cross joins, which are fixed using bolts and hemp ropes, are in particular subjected to high tensile and compression forces.
In the Technical University's test lab at the Institute of Construction Engineering, Professor Claus Scheer carried out a variety of experiments, all targeting an evaluation of the load-carrying ability of these connections. The Z020 testing machine from Zwick was used to test the stresses on the longitudinal connections, the perpendicular joins, and the diagonals. Professor Scheer declared himself satisfied with the results: "The structure is able to withstand winds of roughly 50 km/h so that, on our part, nothing now stands in the way of this exciting event.
The Institute for Construction Engineering is the main tenant of the Peter Behrens Hall, a rehabbed structure now under architectural conservation which is located on the former AEG premises in Wedding. Reopened in July last year, the hall houses various large machines able to test the stiffness and deformation behavior of parts on a scale of 1:1. The enormous 28x13-meter test floor, which was also supplied by Zwick, allows flexible test setups. Moreover, two further Zwick machines with nominal forces of 19 and 20 kN, respectively, an alternating bending stress machine modernized by Zwick as well as various testing machines from our subsidiary Toni Technik in Berlin cover testing applications relevant for wood, steel, and concrete.
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