CAREER: Transitional Bridging: From Rapidly Deployable Disaster Relief to Permanent Infrastructure Solutions

该学院早期职业发展(Career)计划奖项的研究目标是为过渡性桥梁建立一个理论框架--这种桥梁可以快速部署用于紧急救灾，并可以就地改造以获得更高的承载能力，以支持长期、可持续的发展。在自然和人为危害之后，可快速展开的桥梁对于恢复重要的交通动脉至关重要。2010年智利地震和海啸之后漫长的恢复时间表明，需要既能立即作出反应又能作为永久性基础设施的桥梁解决办法。为此，该项目将测试这样一个假设，即新型可调连接可以通过实现多种结构形式来提高快速架设桥梁系统的效率，这些结构形式可以使用更少的材料更有效地承载荷载。该研究计划还将检验这样一个假设，即新型可调模块可以提供过渡能力。整合了可调连接和模块的过渡桥接框架的效率将得到数值和实验验证。本研究的结果将通过与领先的设计公司合作转化为行业。与这一研究目标相结合，教育目标包括(1)培训桥梁工程和可展开结构方面的下一代研究人员和设计师，以及(2)增加妇女在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的参与和留住。首席调查员(PI)计划为工程学院和艺术与文学学院的本科生和研究生课程开发一门新的、跨学科的、共同教授的救灾结构课程。该协会还计划与当地一所高中合作，实施“建立关系激励和推动女孩追求工程和科学)：为年轻女性创造一个丰富的环境”。

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to build a theoretical framework for transitional bridging - bridges that can be rapidly deployed for immediate disaster relief and can be transformed in-situ for higher load capacity to support long-term, sustainable development. Following natural and anthropogenic hazards, rapidly deployable bridges are critical to restoring vital transportation arteries. The long recovery times following the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami demonstrate the need for bridging solutions that can provide an immediate response but also serve as permanent infrastructure. To this end, the project will test the hypothesis that novel adjustable connections can increase efficiency of rapidly erectable bridging systems by enabling a diversity of structural forms which can more effectively carry load using less material. The research plan will also test the hypothesis that novel adjustable modules can provide transitional capabilities. The efficiency of the transitional bridging framework which integrates the adjustable connections and modules will be verified numerically and experimentally.The results of this research will be translated to industry through collaboration with a leading design firm. Integrated with this research objective, educational goals include (1) training the next generation of researchers and designers in bridge engineering and deployable structures and (2) increasing the participation and retention of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The Principal Investigator (PI) plans to develop a new, interdisciplinary, co-taught Deployable Structures for Disaster Relief course for undergraduate as well as graduate curricula in the College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Letters. The PI also plans to collaborate with a local high school to implement "BRIDGES (Building Relationships to Inspire and Drive Girls to pursue Engineering and Science): an enrichment environment for young women".