Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure: Experimental Facility with Twelve-Fan Wall of Wind

自然灾害工程研究基础设施(NHERI)将得到国家科学基金会(NSF)的支持，这是一个分布式、多用户的国家设施，将为自然灾害研究界提供访问研究基础设施的机会，其中将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推广活动。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)的单独奖项组成。授予NHERI的奖项将有助于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发挥的作用。NHERI继续强调NSF对地震工程研究基础设施的重视，这些基础设施以前是由小乔治·E·布朗资助的。地震工程模拟网络作为NEHRP的一部分，但现在扩大了支持范围，包括风能工程研究基础设施。NHERI的广泛目标是支持将提高民用基础设施(如建筑物和其他结构、地下结构、堤坝和关键生命线)抵御地震和风暴自然灾害的弹性和可持续性的研究，以减少生命损失、破坏和经济损失。有关NHERI资源的信息将在DesignSafe-ci.org网站上获得。NHERI实验设施将为NSF支持的研究和教育奖项提供对其实验资源、用户服务和数据管理基础设施的访问。该奖项将支持佛罗里达国际大学的NHERI实验设施，利用12扇风墙(WOW)进行风工程研究。在过去十年中，美国在应对风灾事件的人力、经济和基础设施脆弱性方面吸取了非常惨痛的教训。WOW是一个风暴模拟设施，允许在风速高达(包括Saffir-Simpson等级的5级飓风)的多个尺度上测试整体建筑系统和其他结构，并提供风致降雨选项。WOW将使研究人员能够产生关于风害和降雨入侵机制的高度具体的新知识。其目标是改进结构和建筑围护结构系统和生命线基础设施的设计实践，以创建更具抗风能力和可持续发展的社区。WOW还将促进学生学习，作为培养多元化和具有全球竞争力的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)劳动力的更大国家努力的一部分。更广泛地说，WOW将通过促进风能工程科学和技术的进步，产生能够减少生命、财产和基础设施损失的创新，以及支持防止风灾事件成为社区灾难所需的研究，来服务于国家利益。WOW设施将提供下列实验能力：(1)模拟5级及以下飓风风速的多尺度高速整体测试；(2)模拟风雨以研究水入侵；(3)极端环境下的测试，以开发创新的缓解设备；(4)在高雷诺数下的大气边界层流动中的大规模空气动力学/气动弹性测试；(5)典型边界层风洞在全湍流谱的流动中的小型测试。WOW将提供广泛的仪器和数据采集系统，并将允许获得各种建筑形状的风荷载数据，考虑到当前设计标准中未考虑的干扰和屏蔽效应。存档的数据库将帮助研究人员研究峰值负荷并验证计算方法。集成组件组件的整体测试将有助于确定易损性、渐进性故障模式和降雨入侵机制。使用WOW的研究将有助于验证可持续建筑概念和创新的缓解策略。从大规模测试中获得的知识将使研究人员能够开发更节能、更智能的建筑围护结构，识别现场可再生能源，并实施自然通风策略。战略合作伙伴关系将增加能力，允许在龙卷风和下暴流的设计中使用直风的空气动力学数据。在该设施进行的研究将有助于将新的发现纳入标准并改进当前的做法。该大学的STEM转型研究所将帮助将其项目纳入该设施的教育部分，通过基于探究的主动学习和学习助手模块培养新的智力基础设施，这些模块将被移植到美国和世界各地的风能工程课程中。该设施将为潜在用户举办年度研讨会，并将为本科生提供研究体验。

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 support a NHERI Experimental Facility at Florida International University to conduct wind engineering research using the 12-fan Wall of Wind (WOW). The United States has learned very hard lessons in the last decade about its human, economic, and infrastructure vulnerabilities to wind hazard events. The WOW is a windstorm simulation facility that allows testing of holistic building systems and other structures at multiple scales in wind speeds up to and including hurricane Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with a wind-driven rain option. The WOW will allow researchers to generate new and highly specific knowledge on wind damage and rain intrusion mechanisms. The goal is to improve design practices for structural and building envelope systems and lifeline infrastructures to create more wind-resilient and sustainable communities. The WOW will also promote student learning as part of the larger national effort to foster a diverse and globally competitive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. More broadly, the WOW will serve the national interest by promoting the progress of wind engineering science and technology; generating innovations that can lead to reductions in life, property, and infrastructure losses; and supporting research needed to prevent wind hazard events from becoming community disasters. The WOW facility will provide the following experimental capabilities: (1) high-speed holistic testing at multiple scales in simulated hurricane wind speeds up to and including Category 5; (2) wind-driven rain simulations to study water intrusion; (3) testing under extreme environments to develop innovative mitigation devices; (4) large-scale aerodynamic/aeroelastic testing in atmospheric boundary layer flows at high Reynolds numbers; and (5) classic boundary layer wind tunnel small-scale testing in flows with a full turbulence spectrum. The WOW will offer a wide range of instrumentation and data acquisition systems, and will allow wind load data to be obtained for a wide range of building shapes, accounting for interference and shielding effects not addressed in current design standards. The archived database will help researchers study peak loads and validate computational methods. Holistic testing of integrated component assemblies will help determine fragilities, progressive failure modes, and rain intrusion mechanisms. Research using the WOW will help validate sustainable building concepts and innovative mitigation strategies. Knowledge gained from large-scale tests will enable researchers to develop more energy efficient and smart building envelopes, identify on-site renewable energy sources, and implement natural ventilation strategies. Strategic partnerships will add capabilities to allow use of aerodynamic data on straight winds in designs for tornadoes and downbursts. Research conducted at the facility will contribute to incorporating new findings into standards and improving current practices. The university's STEM Transformation Institute will help incorporate its program into the facility's educational component, fostering a new intellectual infrastructure with inquiry-based active learning and Learning Assistant modules, which will be transportable to wind engineering curricula in the United States and around the world. This facility will conduct annual workshops for prospective users and will host Research Experiences for Undergraduate students.