THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH
COUNCIL OF TURKEY (TUBITAK)
TUBITAK was founded early in 1960's. Its main task is to encourage,
promote and sponsor basic and applied research in natural and basic
sciences, engineering, medicine, agriculture and forestry. TUBITAK
has divisions in
each of these fields. In addition, it has research units and institutes
in areas of high priority. A great majority of the research in Turkey
is being sponsored by TUBITAK.
THE
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (METU)
The Middle East Technical University was founded in 1956. Its main
task is education at undergraduate and graduate levels and to carry
out basic and applied research. It has 5 schools, one of which is
engineering, and 35 departments and several research units.
The Civil Engineering Department has more than 50 fulltime faculty
holding PhD degrees from various universities in and outside Turkey.
The department has 7 laboratories, established for educational and
research purposes. These laboratories are:
· Structural Mechanics Laboratory
· Geotechnical Laboratory
· Materials Laboratory
· Hydraulics Laboratory
· Coastal and Harbor Laboratory
· Water Resources Laboratory
· Transportation Laboratory
In the field related to the project (structural mechanics, geotechnics
and materials of construction) experimental research is being carried
on since early sixties, which led to numerous papers published in
international journals.
The Structural Mechanics group of METU has considerable experience
in structural assessment and rehabilitation. Over 500 case studies
have been completed in the past 30 years, involving assessment and
rehabilitation of
structures (a great majority of these were buildings were damaged
by earthquakes).
Experimental research on rehabilitation of structural members and
systems was initiated at the Structural Mechanics Laboratory back
in 1970. Since then, considerable research has been completed on columns,
beams, slabs and
infilled frames, which were tested (after repair or strengthening)
under monotonic and reversed cyclic loading (seismic). Experimental
research on rehabilitation led to more than 20 papers published in
leading international
journals and international conference proceedings.
CENTER OF RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (CERT) , THESSALONIKI,
GREECE
a) AUTH. LSMFE
AUTH.LSMFE will contribute with its expertise personnel in geotechnical
engineering and soil dynamics fields. It will be involved actively
in many tasks of the project and particularly in those dealing with
the retrieval and evaluation of geotechnical data for soil and site
characterization, measurements of weak and strong ground motions for
the analysis of local site effects accounting soil nonlinearities,
soil mobility and liquefaction.
AUTH.LSMFE has been actively involved, as scientific responsible and
project coordinator, in many research projects, sponsored by National
and European authorities. Soil dynamics, site effects, geotechnical
earthquake engineering, engineering seismology, lifeline earthquake
engineering and microzoning studies, are the main fields of research
and scientific interest. The Laboratory is very well equipped and
capable to perform any kind of laboratory and field measurements (cyclic
triaxial, cyclic torsional, resonant column, CH, DH, SWI, refraction,
reflection, seismic survey etc) and has sophisticated computational
facilities and software.
The scientific team of AUTH.LSMFE, involved in this project, is composed
apart from Prof. Pitilakis by two researchers in geophysics and engineering
seismology. AUTH. LSMFE will be represented by prof. K. Pitilakis.
b) AUTH. LSM
The research facilities at the Earthquake Simulator of the Laboratory
of Strength of Materials (AUTH.LSM) of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
, includes the following: A strong reaction frame. This reaction frame
includes a horizontal servo-hydraulic actuator, with a capacity of
250KNt, a stroke of ( 50mm and a capability of displacement control
with a good fidelity in its response in the frequency range from 0
to 50Hz. Moreover, the same reaction frame also includes two vertical
hydraulic jacks that each has a capacity of 200KNt and a stroke of
200mm. The hydraulic actuator is fully dynamic and the frequency of
loading could be selected as desired. Moreover, complex imposed displacements
that correspond to simulated earthquake loading can also be accommodated.
A considerable number of building components have been tested in this
reaction frame, which has been operational since 1994. A shaking table
Dimensions 1.2m by 1.2m and a maximum payload of 15KNt, a stroke of
( 50mm and a capability of displacement control with a good fidelity
in its response in the frequency range from 0 to 30Hz, having two
degrees of freedom, a horizontal and a vertical one. This shaking
table (the first in Greece) has been operational since 1984. The seismic
response and earthquake performance of various types of structures
have been investigated on this testing facility with small scale physical
models thus building up a considerable expertise in small scale modeling,
measurements and testing for earthquake and dynamic loads.
During the last 6 years these facilities have been utilized among
other projects in the following funded research: Projects EUROSEISTEST,
EUROSEISMOD and ISTECH (European Commission, Program Environment and
Climate, Contact No's ENV.5V-CT93-0281, ENV.4-CT.96-0255, ENV4.CT95-0106)
as well as on the Research and Development program on Masonry Structures
and Cultural Heritage Structures with the support of the Greek Ministry
of Research and Technology and the Organization of Anti-Seismic Planning
and Protection.
Prof. G. Manos will be the leader and responsible for all structural
models at AUTH and SSI measurements of the project.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
(UT)
The Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory is an integrated research
and teaching facility, operating under the direction of the Department
of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. For the
last four decades, investigators at Ferguson Laboratory have been
engaged in research supported by the National Science Foundation,
National Institute of Science and Technology, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, Texas Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration,
and a variety of private and corporate sponsors. The results of these
research projects have led to code changes for and improvements in
construction of reinforced and prestressed concrete, structural steel,
and masonry structures.
The Ferguson Laboratory has a long and sustained history for experimental
engineering research. Ferguson Laboratory received the Charles S.
Whitney Award from the American Concrete Institute in 1980 "for
its contributions through research to the solution of many problems
relating to design and construction of reinforced and prestressed
concrete buildings and bridges.". In the last five years, students
and faculty at Ferguson Laboratory have received the Joe W. Kelly
Award from the American Concrete Institute, the T.R. Higgins Lectureship
Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Shortridge
Hardesty Award and the Croes Medal from the American Society of Civil
Engineers, the International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering
from the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers,
the Arthur J. Boase Award from the Reinforced Concrete Research Institute,
and the John B. Scalzi Research Award from The Masonry Society.
Faculty at Ferguson Laboratory have been involved in nearly every
phase of the US/Japan large-scale test program supported by NSF since
the 1980s. In the mid 1980s, a program of rehabilitation research
was initiated at Ferguson Laboratory sponsored by NSF and conducted
in cooperation with Degenkolb Engineers of San Francisco. After the
1985 Mexico City and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes, the need for research
to support rehabilitation design became evident and NSF initiated
a five-year program for such research. The initiative management was
headquartered at Ferguson Laboratory. The 1994 Northridge earthquake
prompted a reevaluation of the design of welded connections in steel
frames. Much of the initial research that eventually resulted in an
extensive national (and international following the Kobe earthquake)
research effort was conducted at Ferguson Laboratory. The faculty
associated with the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory at
the University of Texas have a long record of:
- Training the next generation of structural
engineers through the involvement of graduate and undergraduate
students in their research.
- Publishing the results of that research as
theses and dissertations, project reports disseminated to user and
sponsor groups, and as papers in journals and conference proceedings.
- Reporting research results at technical
sessions during national and international conferences, workshops, and
technical society meetings.
- Working with engineers, both technical groups
and government agencies, to implement research results into practice.
- Participating in national and international
technical societies and committees developing codes and standards that
become the norm for design and construction of civil structures.
- Acknowledging the support of the sponsors of their projects.
The participants at the University of Texas expect to continue in
the same manner with regard to this SFP Project. No patents are anticipated
with regard to the NATO project.
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