STF4SW
STF4SW
A fluid that fights earthquakes. Shear-thickening fluid based adaptive dampers for passive seismic protection.
Scroll to the damper ↓Under everyday vibration the fluid flows freely; the instant the ground moves hard it jams into a near-solid state and soaks up the energy.
?tune to see the scroll use these values.M5.5+ events in the past 7 days: ···
Each one is energy a structure had to absorb. STF4SW develops the adaptive damping that is always ready for it.
Field investigations after moderate to major earthquakes consistently reveal poor seismic performance in structures that do not comply with modern codes. STF4SW develops a passive, robust and rate-adaptive damping technology that bridges this gap, turning a non-Newtonian fluid into a structural protector.
At the heart of the project is a custom polyborondimethylsiloxane (PBDMS) based shear-thickening fluid. Under everyday vibrations the fluid behaves as a low-viscosity liquid; under seismic excitation it transitions to a near-solid jammed state, dramatically increasing the damper's resistance and absorbing energy.
Soft when the city sleeps. Solid when the ground moves.
Unlike conventional STFs engineered for ballistic, high shear-rate environments, the STF4SW formulation is tuned for the low shear-rate regime typical of multi-storey building responses (0.3–1.2 Hz, peak floor velocities below 1 m/s). Early high-rate direct shear tests have also revealed a remarkable self-healing behaviour: the fluid reconstitutes its microstructure after complete mechanical tearing.
The consortium combines KALEKIM's chemical-process know-how with the structural, experimental and numerical expertise of UPCE, CVUT, Červenka Consulting and TUCN, moving from TRL 2 toward a market-ready damper.
Scroll from M1 (June 2024) to M36 (May 2027): each work package unfolds with its tasks, lead and partners.
Web-native tools by Özgür Yurdakul: response-spectrum and spectra-scaling calculators, plus distribution-fitting and Latin-hypercube sampling. Maintained on GitHub and listed under Software.
Open the tools ↗Publications, patents, conference presentations and project news. Updated as the consortium delivers results.
See the outputs ↗Feel the difference: two buildings under the same earthquake, with and without an STF damper, and the live force–displacement hysteresis loop behind it.
Try the demo ↗GEM Foundation's global seismic hazard viewer — interactive PGA maps for Central Europe, Turkey and Romania where STF4SW partners operate.
Open the map ↗Five partners across three countries, and the researchers driving the project. Select a name to open their profile.