U.S.-Austria Cooperative Research on the Design of Earthquake Resistant Structures

该奖项支持圣路易斯华盛顿大学的 Phillip L. Gould 教授和一名研究生与奥地利因斯布鲁克大学力学研究所的 Gerhart I. Schueller 教授合作进行土木工程研究。 他们对结构对地震强烈地面运动的响应感兴趣。 古尔德教授目前得到美国国家科学基金会地震工程部门的支持，研究 1989 年洛马普列塔地震期间桩支撑结构在剧烈地面运动下的相互作用效应。旧金山附近的一个特殊结构是该研究的主要焦点。 通过与舒勒教授及其同事的合作，将有可能引入概率和模拟技术来扩展这项研究并推广结果。 这将显着增加对正在进行的研究的预期结果的解释和应用。 古尔德教授及其同事正在研究的结构位于 1989 年地震中局部遭受严重破坏的地区；然而，它却幸存了下来，只出现了轻微的裂纹。 据怀疑，柔性桩基与周围软土的相互作用在这一结果中发挥了主要作用。 奥地利调查人员是统计方法方面的专家，他们的贡献将使研究结果能够应用于世界许多地方可能发生的其他地震的影响。 这种概括将有助于结构设计利用土-桩-结构相互作用提供的能量耗散，从而提高结构的生存能力和居住者的安全。

This award supports Professor Phillip L. Gould and a graduate student at Washington University, St. Louis, to collaborate in civil engineering research with Professor Gerhart I. Schueller of the Institute of Mechanics, University of Innsbruck, Austria. They share an interest in the response of structures to the strong ground motions of earthquakes. Professor Gould is currently supported by the Earthquake Engineering Section of NSF for a study of the interaction effects on pile-supported structures subject to severe ground motion during the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. One particular structure near San Francisco is the main focus of that study. Through collaboration with Professor Schueller and his colleagues, it will be possible to introduce probabilistic and simulation techniques to extend this research and generalize the results. This will significantly increase the interpretation and application of the anticipated results of the ongoing study. The structure under study by Professor Gould and colleagues is located in a region that sustained locally heavy damage during the 1989 earthquake; however, it survived with only minor cracking. It is suspected that the flexible pile foundation interacting with the surrounding soft soil played a major role in this outcome. The contribution of the Austrian investigators, who are expert in statistical methods, will enable the results to be applied to the effects of other earthquakes which may take place at many places in the world. This generalization would facilitate the design of structures to take advantage of the energy dissipation provided by soil-pile-structure interaction, and thereby improve the survivability of the structure and the safety of the occupants.