Collaborative Research: Improving USAR Preparedness Using Simulation Technology

使用模拟技术改善USAR的防备能力Sherif El-Tawil和Benigno Aguir摘要：当一座建筑因灾难性事件而倒塌时，瓦砾堆中不可避免地会形成稳定的空洞。这些空洞是结构和非结构元素坠落的结果，这些元素以有利的方式相互作用，创造出受害者可以找到避难所的空间。由于所有获救的建筑物倒塌受害者中有多达三分之一是在这样的空间中找到的，因此本研究的主要目标是使用最先进的有限元模拟来调查它们是如何形成的，以及在什么条件下形成的。其他次要目标是：1)以经过验证的有限元模型为基础创建有效的培训工具，并结合可用于培训USAR人员的虚拟现实可视化工具；2)开发可构成公共教育和意识计划基础的知识，以帮助未经培训的即兴救援人员以及城市搜救特遣部队在倒塌的建筑工地更有效、更安全地开展工作。这项研究将由密歇根大学(UM)土木工程与环境工程系和特拉华大学灾害研究中心(DRC)共同开展。更广泛的影响：拟议研究的产品将对建筑规范协会、建筑师、工程师和参与建筑施工的其他专业人员具有价值。研究结果将帮助他们在基础设施设计、空间功能相互关系、建筑搜救政策的制定、工作人员培训和其他事项上做出选择，以最大限度地提高建筑倒塌期间和之后的生存能力。此外，研究成果还将对指导和改进联邦、州和地方各级紧急志愿者小组和搜救工作组在建筑物倒塌现场的行动大有裨益。同样重要的是，该项目将帮助国家科学基金会继续开展计划工作，展示健全科学的实际影响以及社会学和工程学领域跨学科合作的重要成果。项目成果还将构成由工程科学引导的社会变革的延伸例子，工程科学对灾害社会学具有重要意义。

IMPROVING USAR PREPAREDNESS USING SIMULATION TECHNOLOGYSherif El-Tawil and Benigno AguirreAbstract: When a building collapses due to a catastrophic event, stable voids are inevitably formed in the rubble pile. These voids occur as a result of falling structural and nonstructural elements that interact together in a favorable manner to create spaces in which victims may find shelter. Since as many as one third of all building collapse victims that are rescued are found in such spaces, the primary objective of this research is to use state-of-the-art finite element simulations to investigate how, and under what conditions, they are formed. Other secondary objectives are to: 1) create effective training tools based on validated finite element models coupled with virtual reality visualization tools that can be used for training USAR personnel, and 2) develop knowledge that could form the basis of public education and awareness programs to help untrained, impromptu rescuers as well as urban search and rescue taskforces operate more effectively and safely at a collapsed building site. The research will be conducted as a collaborative effort between the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan (UM) and the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware. Broader Impact: The products of the proposed research will be of value to building code associations, architects, engineers, and other professionals involved in building construction. The results will help them make choices of infrastructure design, space-function interrelationships, the creation of building search and rescue policies, staff training, and other matters to maximize survivability during and in the aftermath of building collapse. Moreover, the results will also be of great benefit in guiding and improving the operations of emergent groups of volunteers and SAR taskforces at the federal, state, and local levels at sites of building collapse. As importantly, the project will assist the NSF in its ongoing programmatic efforts to show the practical implications of sound science as well as the important payoffs of interdisciplinary cooperation in sociology and engineering. Project results will also constitute an extended example of induced social change guided by engineering science of importance to the sociology of disasters.