I-Corps: Shaker Shield: An Innovative Technology for Inhabitant Protection in High Seismic Risk Areas

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is its ability to provide a new paradigm of protection from earthquakes and flash floods through an inflatable, portable and high-strength shielding device. This innovative technology can be adopted by various users including individual property owners, companies, non-profit organizations, and decision makers who are in the need of seismic and flooding hazard mitigation at regional and global scales. The inhabitant-centered research and development will enhance hazard preparedness levels and reduce potential casualties and financial losses. The commercial impact of this technology is expected to be significant because existing technologies are prohibitively expensive and less scalable for broader applications. Technical progress made in the I-Corps program, as well as the information to be collected through interactions with potential customers, industrial manufactures, hazard mitigation teams, and hazard assessment companies, will enable the team to expedite the translation of the proposed technology to the market. The design, testing and prototyping of the technology and the manufacturing process will involve training of students at both graduate and undergraduate levels in a multidisciplinary research and educational environment. This I-Corps project is based on a shielding device that is composed of high-strength proprietary, laminated urethane fabric and allows rapid deployment to its full capacity in the time frame of seconds for seismic and flooding hazard mitigation. Inflated units are connected following specifically designed series and parallel connections to prevent partial deflection-induced collapse and failure of the shield. Computational predication and experimental testing of lab-scale shield components with various geometries and loading scenarios show comparable deformation and stress responses. The intellectual merit of the project stems from its (a) Creative dual-functional approach that addresses inhabitant-oriented protection from seismic and flooding hazards, (b) Application of advanced computational technologies in shield integrity and performance assessment, (c) High flexibility in accommodating various constructions types and occupancy densities with minimum investment, and (d) High potential to create new knowledge regarding the optimal design and fabrication of inflatable structures for multi-hazard mitigation. By revealing correlations between physical properties and system responses, this technology will yield insights into the complexities of multi-hazard mitigation and fill in existing blanks in the hazard mitigation and emergency management market.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.