ADVANCE Fellows Award: Forensic Seismic Damage Modeling Using Virtual Reality

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

The recent collapse of a number of bridge structures has highlighted their vulnerability to earthquakes. The societal impacts of bridge failures on traffic, commerce, and public safety motivate the need to adequately evaluate their performance and rehabilitation. Structural forensic techniques are commonly used to examine the damage patterns, develop possible failure scenarios, and select retrofit designs to be applied to similar bridges in an effort to avoid future failures. This research will define appropriate seismic damage indices that quantify the level of damage experienced by the bridge structure during a seismic event. Performance-based criteria will be developed that accounts for all deformation and damage accumulated during the earthquake in order to facilitate optimal retrofit designs and remediation policies. Virtual reality provides a unique framework in which to understand complex problems. It provides the ability to visualize and interact with computer images using natural human interfaces. Through the use of display technology, users can "enter" the computer world and move around complex three-dimensional computer models. Thus, the solution of large-scale problems can be better understood and more effectively communicated to a wide audience. This research will employ the use of virtual reality technology to visualize the dynamic performance of bridge structures during seismic events and perform structural forensic analyses. An integrated process of analysis and visualization that addresses the sequencing of damage, performance levels, and interdependence of failure mechanisms will be developed in this research. Complex analytical models of bridges will be created while a virtual environment is used to display the results of the analysis and provide an effective communication tool. This research will solve seismic infrastructure problems using a systemic perspective and innovative information systems. Virtual reality technology will be used to enhance the capabilities of pre-event planning scenarios from an array of structural threats. The ability to forensically recreate and understand structural failures, such as the 9/11 disaster, will be advanced through this unique merging of structural analysis and virtual reality technology.