Research
Tsunami: Their characteristics and effects on buildings
A collaborative project between UCL’s EPICENTRE, HR Wallingford and Arup aimed at gaining a better understanding of Tsunami and their effects on coastal infrastructure. The project involves the physical simulation of Tsunami in a laboratory environment using a completely novel Tsunami Generator, mounted in a 45m long wave flume. Measurements of tsunami transformations through the nearshore region will test / validate existing numerical models. Furthermore, by measuring tsunami induced loading on model structures in the flume, the vulnerability of structures to tsunami loading will be investigated with the aim of providing guidance on the assessment and design of structures for tsunami.
More detailed information available here.
Human Loss Project
This project looks to understand the psychological drivers to people’s behaviour in anticipation of and during earthquakes. Seismic risk, especially human loss in earthquakes, is directly influenced by whether or not people prepare for earthquake events and take mitigative actions. These behaviours are as much driven by perceptions of risk as by economic drivers. This project, which is lead by Dr Helene Joffe, will attempt to gauge these drivers for three different cultural environments by carrying out interviews in the USA, Japan and Turkey. For the latter studies, EPICENTRE is collaborating with the University of Kyoto and Middle East Technical University, respectively.
More detailed information available here.
Earthquake Damage Prediction
Structural damage in earthquakes can be measured through numerous damage indices. However, the majority of these indices are based on little or no experimental data, due to the uncommon nature of cyclic tests on structures and structural elements. This project looks to propose a new damage index using specifically designed large-scale experiments on reinforced concrete elements. The experiments will be carried out on a series of structural elements with and without seismic detailing, and an appropriate index for evaluating damage within a displacement-based assessment technique will be derived and related to the mechanical properties of the tested elements.
More detailed information available here.
IMPACT project
In essence, the finished IMPACT system will address the need to calculate and map rapid and “accurate” estimates of affected populations and casualties in the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters; IMPACT is the aid-agencies equivalent of re/insurance industry risk models. Its purpose is to provide decision support to organizations involved in response activities, and to serve as a pre-event mitigation tool for assessing the efficacy of resilience-enhancing strategies for the reduction of affected population. The project stems from a collaboration between UCL and ImageCat. Ltd. The platform poses a multitude of challenges….just the sort of project we like!
More information can be found here
Multi-Disciplinary Indicators for Community Resilience using New Technologies
This project aims to mesh together the experience at ImageCat in using remote-sensing imagery, with disaster risk reduction and engineering expertise at UCL to address the research question: “To what extent can advanced technologies and remote sensing provide indicators of disaster resilience”. The project aims to deliver a set of optimal indicators for community resilience to disasters, for use in GIS environments, looking at different disciplines.
More information can be found here