Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure: Experimental Facility with Large-Scale, Multi-directional, Hybrid Simulation Testing Capabilities

自然灾害工程研究基础设施（NHERI）将得到美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的支持，作为一个分布式、多用户的国家设施，它将为自然灾害研究社区提供研究基础设施，包括地震和风力工程实验设施、网络基础设施、计算建模和模拟工具、研究数据，以及教育和社区外展活动。NHERI将由网络协调办公室、网络基础设施、计算建模和仿真中心以及实验设施（包括灾后快速反应研究设施）组成。NHERI获得的奖金将有助于NSF在国家减少地震灾害计划（NEHRP）和国家减少风暴影响计划中的作用。NHERI延续了NSF对地震工程研究基础设施的重视，此前，作为NEHRP的一部分，由小乔治·e·布朗地震工程模拟网络支持，但现在扩大了对风力工程研究基础设施的支持。NHERI的广泛目标是支持研究，以提高民用基础设施（如建筑物和其他结构、地下结构、堤坝和关键生命线）抵御地震和风暴等自然灾害的弹性和可持续性，以减少生命损失、损害和经济损失。有关NHERI资源的信息将在DesignSafe-ci.org门户网站上提供。NHERI实验设施将为nsf支持的研究和教育奖励提供对其实验资源、用户服务和数据管理基础设施的访问。该奖项将在利哈伊大学提供NHERI实验设施，以支持减轻自然灾害（包括地震）对结构的影响的研究。该设施将为精确、大规模、多向模拟提供实验资源，以调查自然灾害事件对民用基础设施系统的影响，以及潜在的土壤基础效应。来自这些模拟的新发现和知识将使研究人员能够开发和验证新的减灾解决方案和创新的抗灾结构概念。设施使用者进行的研究将有助于培养下一代自然灾害工程研究、教育活动和专业实践的劳动力。教育和社区推广项目，以及该设施的战略教育合作伙伴关系，将针对不同的受众，吸引年轻人进入科学、技术和工程领域，同时也向更广泛的社区提供教育和信息。该设施将为潜在用户举办年度研讨会，并将为本科生举办研究体验。该设施的实验资源包括坚固的地板、多向反应墙、静态和动态执行器以及测试算法，将支持大规模、多向、实时混合模拟，将物理实验与基于计算机的模拟相结合，以评估大型部件和系统的性能。该设施支持的实验室模拟和测试类型包括：(1)混合模拟（HS），将大型物理模型与基于计算机的数值模拟模型相结合；(2)地理分布混合模拟（DHS），即物理模型和/或数值模拟模型位于不同地点的HS；(3)实时混合地震模拟（RTHS），即在物理模型的实际时间尺度上进行的地震模拟；(4)结合DHS和RTHS的地理分布式、实时混合地震模拟；(5)动态测试，通过预定义的加载历史，实时加载大型物理模型；(6)准静态测试，通过预定义的加载历史以缓慢的速率加载大型物理模型。该设施资源将允许同时进行多个大规模模拟和测试，允许多个用户同时工作，而不会出现重大中断。大规模混合模拟是系统级响应数据的独特资源，因为它们使“系统”的定义能够扩展到远远超出典型实验室物理模型的规模。同时，由于其大尺寸，该设施可以容纳大型物理模型，这减少了与典型的小型物理模型相关的缩放效应。广泛的仪器、大规模数据采集系统和先进的传感器将提供推进计算建模和仿真所需的系统级数据。该设施将利用HS地震工程能力在设施内开发混合风工程模拟能力。该设施正在推进的HS有可能在其他科学和工程领域产生更广泛的影响，在这些领域，将物理模型和数值模拟模型相结合，将使实验研究中的“系统”得到更全面的定义。

The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) will be supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a distributed, multi-user national facility that will provide the natural hazards research community with access to research infrastructure that will include earthquake and wind engineering experimental facilities, cyberinfrastructure, computational modeling and simulation tools, and research data, as well as education and community outreach activities. NHERI will be comprised of separate awards for a Network Coordination Office, Cyberinfrastructure, Computational Modeling and Simulation Center, and Experimental Facilities, including a post-disaster, rapid response research facility. Awards made for NHERI will contribute to NSF's role in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. NHERI continues NSF's emphasis on earthquake engineering research infrastructure previously supported under the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation as part of NEHRP, but now broadens that support to include wind engineering research infrastructure. NHERI has the broad goal of supporting research that will improve the resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructure, such as buildings and other structures, underground structures, levees, and critical lifelines, against the natural hazards of earthquakes and windstorms, in order to reduce loss of life, damage, and economic loss. Information about NHERI resources will be available on the DesignSafe-ci.org web portal.NHERI Experimental Facilities will provide access to their experimental resources, user services, and data management infrastructure for NSF-supported research and education awards. This award will provide a NHERI Experimental Facility at Lehigh University to support research to mitigate the impact of natural hazards, including earthquakes, on structures. This facility will provide experimental resources for accurate, large-scale, multi-directional simulations to investigate the effects of natural hazard events on civil infrastructure systems, with potential soil-foundation effects. The new discoveries and knowledge from these simulations will enable researchers to develop and validate new hazard mitigation solutions and innovative hazard-resistant structural concepts. The research conducted by facility users will contribute to the development of the next generation workforce for natural hazards engineering research, educational activities, and professional practice. The education and community outreach programs, along with the strategic education partnerships of the facility, will target a diverse audience and attract young individuals into science, technology, and engineering, while also reaching out to educate and inform a broader community. This facility will conduct annual workshops for prospective users and will host Research Experiences for Undergraduate students.The facility's experimental resources, which include a strong floor, multi-directional reaction wall, static and dynamic actuators, and testing algorithms, will support large-scale, multi-direction, real-time hybrid simulations that combine physical experiments with computer-based simulations for evaluating performance of large-scale components and systems. The types of laboratory simulations and tests enabled by the facility include: (1) hybrid simulation (HS), which combines large-scale physical models with computer-based numerical simulation models; (2) geographically distributed hybrid simulation (DHS), which is a HS with physical models and/or numerical simulation models located at different sites; (3) real-time hybrid earthquake simulation (RTHS), which is a HS conducted at the actual time scale of the physical models; (4) geographically distributed, real-time hybrid earthquake simulation, which combines DHS and RTHS; (5) dynamic testing, which loads large-scale physical models at real-time scales through predefined load histories; and (6) quasi-static testing, which loads large-scale physical models at slow rates through predefined load histories. The facility resources will enable multiple, large-scale simulations and tests to be conducted simultaneously, allowing numerous users to work concurrently without significant interruption. The large-scale hybrid simulations are a unique resource for system-level response data, since they enable the definition of the "system" to be expanded well beyond the size of typical laboratory physical models. At the same time, due to its large size, the facility can accommodate large-scale physical models, which reduces scaling effects associated with typical, small physical models. A broad array of instrumentation, large-scale data acquisition systems, and advanced sensors will provide the system-level data needed for advancing computational modeling and simulation. The facility will utilize the HS capabilities for earthquake engineering to develop hybrid wind engineering simulation capabilities within the facility. The HS being advanced at the facility has the potential for broader impacts in other fields of science and engineering, where combining physical models and numerical simulation models will enable more holistic definitions of "the system" in experimental research.