Many UB students are unaware of the earthquake that shook Ketter Hall this summer. It was not a natural earthquake of course, but rather UB's own earthquake simulator, one of only eleven in the entire world.
UB engineers teamed up with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) this summer to conduct a landmark experiment in earthquake engineering.
A full-size, two-story townhouse built to code on dual shake tables was the guinea pig for a series of tests to evaluate the behavior of wooden structures in an earthquake.
In addition to Colorado State, Cornell, RPI and Texas A&M, UB was awarded part of a research project award funded by the National Science Foundation through its George Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES).
"The experiment is part of a four-year, $1.24 million dollar project called NEESWood," said Andre Filiatrault, professor and deputy director of UB's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering. "UB is part of a five university consortium that was awarded this project."
The trial results could be beneficial in the future for housing in earthquake prone areas.
"The test conducted at UB is a benchmark test aimed at evaluating how residential wood-frame construction, designed to modern building code standards, behaves in earthquakes," Filiatrault said.
Its goal was to accumulate data that will help the other participants in the project, and contribute revolutionary information to the earthquake engineering community.
The results of the simulation experiments have already inspired UB alumnus and Chief Executive Officer of Taylor Devices, Inc., Douglas P. Taylor, to expand the company's market to residential properties.
Taylor Devices' seismic dampers have been installed in many commercial buildings and bridges worldwide, such as the Triborough Bridge in New York City and the Beijing Railway Station in China, but a California mansion will mark the first residential use.
Filiatrault believes that seismic dampers will now have broader applications, including residential wood-frame buildings.
Fluid seismic dampers donated by local Taylor Devices were used in one test conducted, and is the first project to propose using fluid dampers in wood structures.
"Taylor Devices is an Industrial Collaborator to the NEESWood Project. They manufactured the dampers used in the tests at no cost," Filiatrault said.
Seismic dampers, which are normally used in industrial buildings and bridges, were applied for the first time to a residential building by UB and RPI students.
The dampers automatically react once sensors detect seismic activity. The mechanism has pistons with a unique material inside, which changes from liquid to solid when exposed to magnetic force, called MR fluid.
The vibrations of the earthquake cause MR to change states thousands of times every second. As the seismic waves cause the building to move back and forth, the damper will counteract the horizontal movements, preventing damage to the structure.
"The project will continue to accumulate information that will create a better understanding of how mid-rise (six to seven story) wood-frame buildings will react to an earthquake," Filiatrault said.
This is important because the information will make wood more economically and technically competitive with other materials such as steel and concrete, which dominate the market in mid-rise structures, according to Filiatrault.
"The NEESWood Project is a four-year project. After the benchmark tests, UB will be involved in the development of a performance-based seismic design procedures for mid-rise wood-frame construction based on the test results at UB," Filiatrault said. "UB will then assist the design and capstone testing of 6-story wood buildings in Japan in 2009 on the largest shake table in the world in Mikki City, Japan."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
