Next Generation Structural Monitoring and Smart Cities

Speaker: Dr. Erol Kalkan, Quakelogic

Structural monitoring has gained importance for safety requirements of critical structures including hospitals, high-rise buildings, bridges, dams, tunnels, wind turbines etc. Although these structures are designed and built to operate safely under anticipated static and dynamic loading conditions, deterioration and damage can occur over their lifetime. Extreme events such as earthquakes are the most prevailing source of failure. If damage conditions are not identified rapidly, they may leave the dam vulnerable to further damage.

Structural Engineering in Golf Club Design

Speaker: Brandon Woolley, TaylorMade Golf

Structural engineering can be found all around us.  In this presentation, I’ll talk about how we use engineering to create the best performance golf products in the world.  I’ll cover some of the engineering challenges unique to golf equipment design and a little about how TaylorMade Golf overcomes them. 

Naval Health Research Center: Engineering Human Performance in a Warfighter Population

Speaker: Dr. Pinata Sessoms and Dr. Amy Silder, Naval Health Research Center

Located aboard Naval Base Point Loma, Naval Health Research Center is the Department of Defense’s designated Deployment Health Research Center and the only military medical research center on the West Coast. Drs. Sessoms and Silder will discuss some of the research being done by the Physical and Cognitive Operational Research Environment (PhyCORE) Lab at NHRC. The lab’s mission is to enhance Warfighter readiness by improving rehabilitation of wounded warriors and resilience of healthy Warfighters through operationally relevant training and testing.

Numerical Simulations of Soil Structure Interaction (SSI)

Speaker: Professor Davide Forcellini, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Since the late 1970s numerical simulation methods have been developed in order to consider soil-structure-interaction (SSI) problems. In the beginning, such approaches performed linear analyses that are generally appropriate to describe low amplitude ground motions. In order to assess realistic non-linear responses of soil-foundation-structure systems under earthquakes, it is fundamental to apply SSI-based approaches by performing the state-of-the-art numerical methodologies that are the object of this webinar.

The Structural Innovations of Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Speaker: Brendan Walsh, Buro Happold Engineering

The multi-purpose Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the new home of the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) and Atlanta United (MLS) accommodates 80,000 fans and occupies almost two million square feet near downtown Atlanta. Costing approximately $1.5 billion to construct, the stadium contains many innovative design features including an unprecedented 8-panel cantilevered retractable roof, one of the largest scoreboards in sports, the longest two-way structure in the US, the first use of single skin ETFE in the US, and the first LEED Platinum credential for an NFL stadium.

Effects of Thermal Perturbations on the Equilibrium of the Subsurface

Speaker: Professor Alessandro Rotta Loria

Geomaterials, geostructures and geosystems are subjected to continuous thermal perturbations. In the context of geoenergy exploitations that involve the harvesting or storage of thermal energy from or in the subsurface, these perturbations vary and last from seconds to decades. Complex and coupled phenomena are associated with the previous perturbations, such as heat transfer, mass transfer and deformation.

Structural and Geotechnical Engineering Failure Investigations and Legal Disputes

Speaker: Dr. Christine Beyzaei and Dr. Ezra Jampole

In an ideal world, an engineer’s involvement in a structure would end after construction is finished. But the reality is that many structures are subject to costly litigation or arbitration because of allegations of inadequate design or performance. Additionally, when a structure is subjected to extreme loading, insurance disputes arise regarding the source of damage and who is responsible. This talk will review the types of legal disputes that structural engineers can find themselves in and how expert witnesses are used to sort through the issues and provide independent opinions.

An Introduction to ASCE41-17: Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings

February 26, 2020 - 1:00 pm

Speaker: Dr. Reza Moradi

ASCE41-17 is a current US standard for seismic evaluation and retrofitting of existing buildings. Performance based method is used in ASCE 41 which is different in a number of ways from prescriptive method used in ASCE 7. In this presentation, the main differences between performance bases and prescriptive methods are discussed. Also, an overview of ASCE 41-17 including the specification in its three tiers and methodologies in its linear and nonlinear analysis approach is presented.

Numerical Modeling of Earthquake-Induced Ground Deformations

April 10, 2019 - 12:00 pm

Speaker: Professor Katerina Ziotopoulou

Non-linear dynamic analyses (NDAs) are widely used in engineering practice to evaluate the seismic performance of geotechnical structures affected by liquefaction or cyclic softening.

Full-Scale Five-Story Building Shake Table Test

April 03, 2019 - 12:00 pm

Speaker: Dr. Michelle Chen

Intense earthquake ground motions can be devastating to communities, and can lead to years and even decades of recovery. It is observed in recent earthquakes that nonstructural components, which make up a large part of a building’s cost, are vulnerable to seismic damage.