Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar

The recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Chile underscore the importance of developing new approaches and technologies to improve the performance of structures during earthquakes.  The presentation will highlight the application of several innovative retrofit approaches for mitigating the effects of earthquakes in buildings and bridges.  One class of retrofits uses Nitinol shape memory alloys. Shape memory alloys are a unique metallic alloy which can undergo large deformations while reverting back to their original, undeformed shape.  This unique property has led to the development of applications in the biomedical, aerospace, and commercial industry.   Another class of sustainable retrofit systems are developed that are scalable, adaptable, cost-effective, and do not require heavy machinery to implement.  A multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approach is taken to explore the potential use of these systems for applications in earthquake engineering.  Complementary analyses show great potential for these systems to improve the earthquake performance of nonductile buildings and bridges.