College of Engineering team answersed the call to design an experimental facility to advance seismic safety and resilience of buildings, structures and systems. | University Nevada, Reno
College of Engineering team answersed the call to design an experimental facility to advance seismic safety and resilience of buildings, structures and systems. | University Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno’s new large-scale laminar soil box system is the latest tool in earthquake engineering.
The experimental building is the biggest of its kind in the country and on par with the rest of the world in how it strives for innovation and flexibility, according to a news bulletin issued by the university.
“This team has remarkable depth of experience and knowledge when it comes to designing and fabricating a one-of-a-kind experimental facility,” David McCallen, project leader for the sponsor and CCEER director, said in the release. "Their track record for successful completion of unique experimental systems was key to looking to UNR for the system design."
The team for the new facility will consist of Foundation Professor Ian Buckle of the University's Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research (CCEER), who will as principal investigator, and be backed by research associate professors Patrick Laplace and Sherif Elfass, who served as the project's design leads.
Elfass has experience in developing shake-table testing soil boxes while Laplace cultivated the triaxial shake table for the university.
The soil box system will provide enhanced earthquake simulation where the team will study how infrastructures act in the soil when an earthquake takes place.
The federal government provided funding for the development and construction of the building. In order to protect Department of Energy buildings that are equipped with vital scientific equipment from potential earthquakes, the project was launched in 2015.
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