SAVI: Virtual International Institute for Seismic Performance Assessment of Structural Wall Systems

结构墙是在楼梯间和电梯周围的建筑物中常用的实心混凝土墙，由于其建造经济、有效地分隔空间以及有效地保护建筑物免受强烈地震地面震动，因此在世界范围内得到了广泛的应用。在最近的地震中，结构墙发生了意想不到的损坏，例如2010年的智利和2011年的新西兰，以及在美国和日本最近的实验室测试中观察到的损坏，这表明结构工程师已经将结构墙的抗震设计极限推到了临界边界之外。尽管有这些观察，工程师们越来越多地选择使用结构墙，因为从历史上看，结构墙建筑在地震中倒塌的可能性较小，而且更有可能限制对建筑内容物的严重破坏。根据最近的观察，美国和世界各地已经开始或计划对结构墙的抗震性能和设计进行大量研究。为结构墙确定的许多研究需要需要大规模的实验室测试，以验证和校准计算模型，并制定和完善建筑规范的抗震设计建议。大规模的测试代价高昂；因此，任何一个国家解决已确定的广泛问题的能力都是有限的，进展将是缓慢的。鉴于对结构墙的关键研究需求和各国可用的有限资源，该奖项将通过创建一个结构墙系统抗震性能评估的虚拟国际研究所，利用面对面会议和虚拟协作工具促进国际研究合作。通过这个研究所，来自智利、日本、新西兰和美国的研究人员，无论是非正式的还是正式的研究合作，都将分享研究测试计划和测试数据；开发、改进、校准和验证用于建筑设计的组件和系统模型；在可能的情况下，就关键性能问题达成共识；编写联合报告、论文和设计建议；并制定合作的新研究方向。研究所的成果将由参加会议、研讨会和代码委员会的成员、让地震专业人员参与、通过开发和分发教育材料和项目成果(例如，数据)以及通过创建项目网站来传播。将通过参加面对面的会议和与来自世界各地的主要研究人员和从业人员的虚拟协作，加强对年轻研究人员(学生和教职员工)的指导和培训。更广泛的美国和国际地震工程研究界将从联合出版物、数据访问和加强合作(面对面和虚拟)的机会中受益。该奖项被指定为跨虚拟学院(SAVI)科学奖，由NSF工程局和NSF综合与国际活动办公室共同资助。

Structural walls, which are solid concrete walls commonly used in buildings around stairwells and elevators, are used worldwide because they are economical to construct, efficient to separate spaces, and effective in protecting buildings from strong earthquake ground shaking. Unexpected damage that occurred to structural walls in recent earthquakes, e.g., Chile in 2010 and New Zealand in 2011, as well as damage observed in recent laboratory tests in the United States and Japan, suggest that structural engineers have pushed seismic design limits for structural walls beyond a critical boundary. Despite these observations, engineers are increasingly choosing to use structural walls because, historically, structural wall buildings are less likely to collapse in earthquakes and are more likely to limit heavy damage to building contents. Given recent observations, considerable research on the seismic performance and design of structural walls has been initiated or is planned in the United States and around the world. Many of the research needs identified for structural walls require large-scale laboratory testing to validate and calibrate computational models and to develop and refine seismic design recommendations for building codes. Large-scale testing is expensive; therefore, the ability of any one country to address the breadth of issues that have been identified is limited and progress will be slow. Given the critical research needs for structural walls and the limited resources available to individual countries, this award will facilitate international research collaborations using both in-person meetings and virtual collaboration tools by creating a virtual international institute for the seismic performance assessment of structural wall systems. Through this institute, researchers from Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, who have a long history of both informal and formal research collaboration, will share research test plans and test data; develop, improve, calibrate, and validate component and system models used for building design; achieve consensus, where possible, on critical performance issues; prepare joint reports, papers, and design recommendations; and develop collaborative new research directions. Institute results will be disseminated by members participating in meetings, workshops, and code committees, by involving earthquake professionals, by developing and distributing educational materials and project results (e.g., data), and by creating a project web site. Mentoring and training of young researchers (students and faculty) will be enhanced through participation in both face-to-face meetings and virtual collaboration with leading researchers and practitioners from around the world. The broader U.S. and international earthquake engineering research community will benefit from joint publications, access to data, and opportunities for enhanced collaboration (in-person and virtual). This award is designated as a Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) award and is co-funded by NSF's Directorate for Engineering and NSF's Office of Integrative and International Activities.