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Buildings & Construction

Structural engineering

News and Updates

Projects and Programs

Building-Level Seismic Performance Assessment

Ongoing
Objective: To better understand the seismic performance of buildings designed in areas of medium-to-high seismicity and to identify ways to create enhanced performance through low-damage approaches, improved code provisions, and improved analysis procedures. What is the Problem? Despite progress

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)
Testing a multi-specimen chain in fatigue in pressurized hydrogen

Materials Testing in Hydrogen Gas

Ongoing
Hydrogen is known to have a deleterious effect on steels and other metals, but steels are the most cost-effective and commonly used materials for pipelines and pressure vessels. We are collaborating with the code bodies (ASME B31.12 and ISO 11114-4), DOT, and DOE, to enable the implementation of

Validation of ASCE 41 Procedures in PBSE

Completed
Objective - The objective of this study is to advance first-generation performance-based seismic engineering (PBSE) methods by assessing the performance of a set of code-compliant buildings using ASCE/SEI 41 methodologies. This study focuses on steel buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs) and

Publications