SAVI: Virtual International Institute for Seismic Performance Assessment of Structural Wall Systems

结构墙是一种坚固的混凝土墙，通常用于楼梯井和电梯周围的建筑物，因为它们建造经济，有效地分隔空间，并有效地保护建筑物免受强烈地震的地面震动而在世界范围内使用。在最近的地震中，例如2010年的智利地震和2011年的新西兰地震，以及最近在美国和日本进行的实验室测试中观察到的破坏，对结构墙造成的意外破坏表明，结构工程师已经将结构墙的抗震设计极限推到了临界边界之外。尽管有这些观察结果，工程师们越来越多地选择使用结构墙，因为从历史上看，结构墙建筑在地震中不太可能倒塌，而且更有可能限制对建筑内部的严重破坏。鉴于最近的观察结果，在美国和世界各地已经开始或正在计划对结构墙的抗震性能和设计进行大量研究。许多研究需要确定的结构墙需要大规模的实验室测试，以验证和校准计算模型，并开发和完善建筑规范的抗震设计建议。大规模的测试是昂贵的；因此，任何一个国家解决已确定的广泛问题的能力都是有限的，进展将是缓慢的。考虑到结构墙的关键研究需求和单个国家可用的有限资源，该奖项将通过创建一个虚拟的国际结构墙系统抗震性能评估研究所，通过面对面会议和虚拟协作工具促进国际研究合作。通过该研究所，来自智利、日本、新西兰和美国的研究人员将分享研究测试计划和测试数据，这些研究人员在非正式和正式研究合作方面都有很长的历史；开发，改进，校准和验证用于建筑设计的组件和系统模型；在可能的情况下，就关键的工作表现问题达成共识；准备联合报告、论文和设计建议；并共同开发新的研究方向。协会的成果将通过参加会议、研讨会和规范委员会的成员，通过地震专业人员的参与，通过开发和分发教育材料和项目成果（例如，数据），以及通过创建项目网站来传播。将通过与来自世界各地的主要研究人员和实践者的面对面会议和虚拟合作，加强对年轻研究人员（学生和教师）的指导和培训。更广泛的美国和国际地震工程研究界将受益于联合出版物、数据访问和加强合作（面对面和虚拟）的机会。该奖项被指定为跨虚拟研究所（SAVI）科学奖，由美国国家科学基金会工程理事会和美国国家科学基金会综合和国际活动办公室共同资助。

Structural walls, which are solid concrete walls commonly used in buildings around stairwells and elevators, are used worldwide because they are economical to construct, efficient to separate spaces, and effective in protecting buildings from strong earthquake ground shaking. Unexpected damage that occurred to structural walls in recent earthquakes, e.g., Chile in 2010 and New Zealand in 2011, as well as damage observed in recent laboratory tests in the United States and Japan, suggest that structural engineers have pushed seismic design limits for structural walls beyond a critical boundary. Despite these observations, engineers are increasingly choosing to use structural walls because, historically, structural wall buildings are less likely to collapse in earthquakes and are more likely to limit heavy damage to building contents. Given recent observations, considerable research on the seismic performance and design of structural walls has been initiated or is planned in the United States and around the world. Many of the research needs identified for structural walls require large-scale laboratory testing to validate and calibrate computational models and to develop and refine seismic design recommendations for building codes. Large-scale testing is expensive; therefore, the ability of any one country to address the breadth of issues that have been identified is limited and progress will be slow. Given the critical research needs for structural walls and the limited resources available to individual countries, this award will facilitate international research collaborations using both in-person meetings and virtual collaboration tools by creating a virtual international institute for the seismic performance assessment of structural wall systems. Through this institute, researchers from Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, who have a long history of both informal and formal research collaboration, will share research test plans and test data; develop, improve, calibrate, and validate component and system models used for building design; achieve consensus, where possible, on critical performance issues; prepare joint reports, papers, and design recommendations; and develop collaborative new research directions. Institute results will be disseminated by members participating in meetings, workshops, and code committees, by involving earthquake professionals, by developing and distributing educational materials and project results (e.g., data), and by creating a project web site. Mentoring and training of young researchers (students and faculty) will be enhanced through participation in both face-to-face meetings and virtual collaboration with leading researchers and practitioners from around the world. The broader U.S. and international earthquake engineering research community will benefit from joint publications, access to data, and opportunities for enhanced collaboration (in-person and virtual). This award is designated as a Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) award and is co-funded by NSF's Directorate for Engineering and NSF's Office of Integrative and International Activities.