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Engineering Laboratory /Materials and Structural Systems Division

Structures Group

The Structures Group provides performance prediction tools to reduce the vulnerability of building and infrastructure systems to extreme events (e.g., wind, fire, earthquake, impact, blast) through cost-effective reliability-based multi-hazard approaches.

The group: (1) conducts laboratory, field, and analytical research in the areas of wind engineering and coastal inundation, structural fire safety design and retrofit, mitigation of progressive structural collapse, nondestructive evaluation, and performance of structural materials and connections; (2) provides guidance, tools, and science-based criteria for vulnerability assessment, design, and retrofit applications; (3) conducts disaster and failure investigations; and (4) supports the technical information needs of federal agencies in formulating national policies related to building and infrastructure applications.

STAFF DIRECTORY 

News and Updates

Projects and Programs

Coastal Inundation: Hazard Characterization and Structural Design

Ongoing
Objective - To develop next-generation methods and tools to better characterize coastal inundation hazards, associated loads, and response of structures, thus enabling performance-based standards for designing structures that resist coastal inundation. What is the new technical idea? Current design

Implementation of Joplin Tornado Recommendations

Ongoing
Objective - To implement all 16 recommendations from the NIST Joplin tornado investigation, at the earliest possible date based on code and standard development cycles, by: (1) conducting research and development to provide the technical foundation for improved guidelines, standards, codes and (2)

Measures of Building Resilience and Structural Robustness Project

Ongoing
Objective: By FY2014, develop the measurement science to assess the disaster resilience of buildings through the use of risk-based assessment and decision methods, and develop performance-based pre-standards for mitigation of disproportionate collapse of steel and reinforced concrete structures

Robust Structural Systems for Multi-Hazard Mitigation

Ongoing
Objective - Develop performance-based design methods for structural systems to achieve robustness against multiple hazards, including extreme winds and disproportionate collapse. What is the new technical idea? The new technical idea is to develop and demonstrate effective strategies for

Publications

Awards