thyssenkrupp continues to increase its elevator-related commercial activities and transform the elevator industry with R&D studies to be carried out at the test tower in Rottweil.
Cities are clinging with increasing population and overloading infrastructures; The mobility of buildings play a decisive role in the sustainable growth of cities. The research activities in the historic city of Baden-Württemberg are a turning point in overcoming these challenges of urbanization.
Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator, explains: “As a result of the launch of our predictive maintenance solution MAX and integrating Microsoft's HoloLens product into our service processes, it is like the elevator industry that has remained unchanged and highly traditional over the past 150 years. We have seen that even in sectors, revolutionary changes can be made through innovation and digitalization. Now, with the Rottweil test tower, we are strengthening all of our core activities, including elevator manufacturing, with pioneering solutions that redefine mobility in cities and make cities the best places to live. ”
Among these solutions is the MULTI, which will be tested in a very short time in 12 wells in the test tower in Rottweil and has been specially designed for this new elevator system. For the Transrapid train used in linear drive motors, the developed magnetic levitation technology is used, thus obtaining many advantages: The rope-free structure enables multiple elevator cars to move in a single shaft. In this way, while the carrying capacity is increased by half, the space requirement for the elevator shaft in the building is reduced by half. As the elevators can move sideways without any height restrictions, MULTI offers unprecedented opportunities in the design of buildings and architecture.
As an indication of the need for faster and more efficient transport solutions in buildings, the current draft law submitted in the Federal State of Germany envisions a review of previous height restrictions. It is pointed out that residential buildings should be built higher and more frequently in order to bring a solution to the inadequacy of housing in cities and to create more habitable areas. In this direction, another focus of engineers at thyssenkrupp is the traditional winch ropes in the 64,8-meter-high tower, where tests at a speed of 264 km per hour were carried out.
With the transfer of the tower from general contractor Züblin to thyssenkrupp, R&D work on the tower will officially begin. With the start of the work, all the innovations in the elevator can now be tested and certified at the Rottweil facility before being implemented in the world's metropolises. Taking into account the critical role it plays in innovating for elevator technology, thyssenkrupp ensured that the test tower was commissioned exactly as planned and in line with the planned budget.
Upward trend
In 1950, 70% of the world's population was rural. In 2050, the urban population will approach the same percentage. Therefore, cities will become economic centers of the world. As cities grow and areas become constrained, it means expansion only in one direction: upwards. The ecological and economic benefits of high-rise buildings, which leave less footprint and allow more urban green spaces, have been found to be a determining factor in the development of megacities. The number of skyscrapers is not just increasing; At the same time, their average height exceeds all expectations. By the end of 2015, the average height of the 100 tallest buildings in the world reached up to 357 meters. Considering that this height was 2000 meters in 285, it can be seen that an incredible increase of 15 meters in 70 years.
Andreas Schierenbeck points out that new innovation steps are urgently needed in the elevator industry to ensure that people can move efficiently and comfortably in this rapidly changing urban development: “Time remains a valuable asset. We support cities to prevent city dwellers from wasting time due to congestion and overcrowding. As thyssenkrupp, we are constantly innovating in urban transport with innovative products such as MULTI, products such as the moving conveyor ACCEL that reduce congestion and improve the flow of people in buildings, and operations such as the combination of MAX and HoloLens to ensure uninterrupted operation of mobility systems.
Thyssenkrupp test tower in Rottweil: Facts and details
• The 246 meter high Rottweil test tower is the tallest building in Baden-Wurttemberg. The Stuttgart television tower, the second tallest building in the region, follows it with a height of 217 meters.
• The viewing platform with a height of 232 meters is the highest in Germany in this area. Next is the 224-meter-high European Tower (Europaturm) in Frankfurt.
• thyssenkrupp has invested 40 million euros in the future.
• The length of the test wells in the elevator test tower is 2,1 km when calculated altogether. So if the wells inside the tower were lined up end to end, it would be eight times higher than its current height and twice as high as the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia (1007 meters), which is currently the tallest building under construction.
• The total weight of the tower is 40 thousand tons. This is equal to the weight of the 8000 African elephant.
• A total of 15 cubic meters of concrete and 2500 tons of steel material were used in the construction. The amount of steel used corresponds to the amount thyssenkrupp uses for the modernized surfaces it produces daily in Duisburg.
• The volume of the building is approximately 118 thousand cubic meters. If we imagined the test tower as a pint, it would have enough content for the 20 Oktoberfest event.
• The entire process from the first ground-breaking ceremony to the opening ceremony lasted less than ten months. In other words, only 245 has been reduced to -32 meters starting from scratch for the foundation of the tower in the day; then again 232 meters up.
• On some days the tower has risen 5 meters per day. In other words, it grew five times faster than some bamboo species. On average, the tower increased by approximately 3,5 meters per day.
• The outer covering is composed of 17 thousand square meters. This corresponds to two football fields.
• The tower will be used as a special test environment for MULTI, the first rope-free elevator system in the world. Three interconnecting wells allow the high-end elevator to move horizontally in the tower.
• There are currently two elevators operating in the test tower (status 12 / 12 / 2016): a panoramic lift with access to a fire-resistant elevator and access platform, which can reach 4 meters per second. Once you reach the 8 meter (29 km / hour) and get to the elevator consisting of glass walls, you can start enjoying the view.
• The fastest elevators in the test tower will then start working in the well to reach 18 meters per second (65 km / h). This is twice the speed Usain Bolt reached when he set a world record.
• The staircase consists of 1500 steps. In the case of walking the stairs of the test tower from beginning to end (starting at -32 and ending at 232), the official record is now 15 minutes.
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