CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING - EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS MITIGATION

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS IN RESPONSE TO TOPIC 17, CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING - EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS MITIGATION, OF THE NSF/SBIR PROGRAM SOLICITATION FOR 1983. THE INTENT OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF STEEL CONFINEMENT TECHNIQUES IN CONCRETE MASONRY CONSTRUCTION IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE STRENGTH AND DUCTILITYOF SHEAR WALLS AND TO MORE EFFECTIVELY USE BUILDING MATERIALS. WE PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH AND RANK SEVERAL OPTIONSWHICH WOULD PROVIDE CONFINEMENT IN CONCRETE MASONRY. THESE OPTIONS WOULD BE DEVELOPED UTILIZING OUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN, EARTHQUAKE AND WIND ENGINEERING AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MASONRY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. WE ARE ALSO PROPOSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TEST PROGRAM FOR QUANTIFYING IMPROVED EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE AND DETERMINING THE COST OF TESTING EACH SELECTED DESIGN/SYSTEM/METHOD. THIS TEST PROGRAM WOULD ALSO IDENTIFY CRITERIA WHICH COULD BE USED TO EVALUATEFUTURE IMAGINATIVE METHODS OF CONFINEMENT AND THUS HELP TO ACCELERATE THE EVALUATION PROCESS CONDUCTED BY PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND BUILDING OFFICIALS. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO CONDUCT A PRISM TESTING OF TWO OF THE MOST PROMISING CONFINEMENT OPTIONS.