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Engineering Laboratory

Materials and Structural Systems Division

Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 25 of 53

Accelerated Weathering Laboratory: Metrology and Technology Transfer

Ongoing
Objective By 2027, validate and implement the NIST Accelerated Weathering Laboratory (AWL) technology for conducting accurate and traceable aging experiments. By 2028, transfer the SPHERE technology to industrial stakeholders. Technical Idea A NIST Accelerated Weathering Laboratory (AWL) has been
3D Concrete Printer

Additive Manufacturing with Cement-based Materials

Ongoing
Objective - Develop the measurement science tools and scientific knowledge base for performance-based standards for reinforced 3-D printed concrete structures. Background - Current 3DCP construction practices resemble reinforced masonry construction, as shown in Figure 1. Similar to reinforced

AI-Assistance for Resilience Research and Practice

Ongoing
Objective - In FY25, the project will focus on developing and evaluating human-in-the-loop AI-assisted methods for data curation, data analysis, and behavioral experiments. These efforts will support decision-making to enhance community resilience against compound risks from extreme weather events
Aggregate Concrete

Assessing Pyrrhotite in Concrete

Ongoing
Objective Develop a standard test method and a set of calibration reference materials to quantify pyrrhotite in concrete; document pyrrhotite/aggregate/concrete reactions and rates so that the most deleterious reactions can be efficiently reduced or eliminated; and evaluate proposed mitigation

Building-Level Seismic Performance Assessment

Ongoing
Objective The objective of this project is to better understand the seismic performance of buildings designed in areas of medium-to-high seismicity and to identify and evaluate ways to enhance the seismic performance of buildings through advances in design approaches, including conventional and low

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

Collapse Assessment of Buildings under Seismic Loading

Completed
Objective - To evaluate the collapse probabilities of a suite of steel buildings for a series of increasingly severe earthquake ground motions, and to compare these probabilities to the collapse objective presumed in ASCE/SEI 7. The probabilities of collapse will be determined using the methodology
NIST

Community Resilience Program

Ongoing
Objective - By 2028, deliver novel resilience planning and analysis methods and tools to support informed decision making by communities of all sizes. By 2028, implement multifaceted outreach, collaboration, and engagement to ensure the effective dissemination of community resilience guidance

Design Methods for Resilient Community Systems

Completed
Objective - To advance design and assessment methods for buildings and infrastructure to improve their ability to support the social and economic functions they support and community resilience. What is the technical idea? Quantitative approaches to identify and evaluate the performance of the built
Moore OK Hospital

Design for Tornadoes

Ongoing
Objective To advance tornado hazard mitigation through improved characterization of tornadoes and their interaction with buildings and structures, providing the technical foundation for improvements to tornado load design guidelines, standards, codes, and code adoptions. This includes research and

Development of a First-Generation Community-Resilience Systems Model

Ongoing
Objective - By 2028, develop and test an efficient, interactive computer-based tool, Alternatives for Resilient Communities (ARC), to facilitate exploration of decision alternatives at the community scale for infrastructure systems (e.g., buildings, water, power, transportation) and their impacts on

Development and Implementation of the Community Resilience Planning Guides

Ongoing
Objective - By 2028, publish updated community resilience planning and decision-making guidance documents that are supported by multi-objective resilience planning & analysis tools, based on collaboration and engagement with end-user communities, professional organizations, and government agencies

Disaster and Failure Studies & Disaster Metrology Studies

Completed
Objective - To provide leadership, coordination, and management for (1) the conduct of disaster and failure studies, including the development and maintenance of an archival data repository, (2) promoting the implementation of recommendations from disaster and failure studies, (3) carrying out the
USGS Map

Earthquake Risk Reduction in Buildings and Infrastructure Program

Ongoing
Objective: The Program’s objective is to develop and advance knowledge which can improve codes, standards, and design guidelines for earthquake risk mitigation of buildings and infrastructure systems with the focus on recovery-based design. These efforts supplement NIST’s role as lead agency for the

Engineered Materials for Resilient Infrastructure Program

Ongoing
Objective - To develop and deploy measurement science to reliably assess the current and future performance of engineered materials in support of resilient infrastructure given exposure to chronic (e.g., materials degradation) and episodic (e.g., earthquakes) hazards. What is the technical idea? To

Functional Recovery of Buildings and Lifelines

Ongoing
Objective The Functional Recovery project is designed to improve the time for recovery of key social functions by strengthening the built environment to withstand earthquake impacts. Our efforts will advance measurement science for the assessment and design of buildings and lifelines, contribute in

Hydration Reactions in Microstructures Project

Completed
Objective - Generate and publish reaction rate data and enhanced computer modeling tools to better understand and predict the rates of microstructure development and phase interactions in portland cement concrete binders. What is the new technical idea? Reflection digital holographic microscopy (DHM

Improved Assessment Criteria for Performance-Based Seismic Design

Completed
Objective - Task (1): To establish a new generation of performance-based design assessment criteria that captures a component action’s dependence on loading history by conducting a set of focused experimental tests and computer simulations on eccentrically braced frame link beams. Task (2): To vet