Novel and Emerging Technologies for Sustainable and Seismically Resilient Infrastructure

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A major portion of Canadian civil infrastructure has passed its service life. Our infrastructure deficit is increasing at $2B/year. The Insurance Bureau of Canada 2013 report estimated the probable loss after a 9-magnitude earthquake in BC at $75B and a $61B after a 7-magnitude earthquake in the Quebec City-Montreal-Ottawa corridor - a clear reflection of our vulnerable infrastructure. Hence, it is imperative to take immediate measures to develop innovative, low-cost, and reliable construction and retrofit solutions for our infrastructure. The proposed research program aims to reduce seismic vulnerability through innovations in structural systems and transfer of knowledge to practice. Although conventional structural design can save lives during earthquakes, the infrastructure suffers major damage and often requires replacement which negatively impacts sustainability. Hence, it is absolutely critical to bring innovation to structural design so that our infrastructure is not compromised during earthquakes. The proposed program objectives will enable leading-edge research to develop (a) innovative low-cost segmental post-tensioned structural systems having self-centering capability to reduce the risk of major damage following an earthquake; (b) novel friction-based self-centering bracing device to substantially reduce potential damage and improve the service life of new and deficient infrastructure; and (c) innovative isolation and damping devices for seismic protection of structures. In current construction practice, buildings and bridges are designed such that they will dissipate seismic energy by undergoing large lateral drift and yielding of critical components causing substantial damage during a major earthquake. In most cases, the structures are not repairable, resulting in significant economic loss. The rebuilding is also economically and environmentally costly and time-consuming. The proposed research will address this critical need by developing innovative construction techniques using vertically post-tensioned prefabricated elements and connection details, and novel retrofitting techniques for older structures. Besides, superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) in the form of rebar, strand and cable will be utilized along with regular steel for developing self-centering devices that can help the structure bring back to its plumb position after earthquakes. This research program is well aligned with the global demand in innovative systems, technologies, and processes, and entrepreneurship, and finally, sustainable development. This research program will provide excellent opportunities to train multiple highly qualified personnel made up of a diversified group at UBC who will constitute the next generation of Canada's high-tech engineering workforce.