Collaborative Research: Improving USAR Preparedness Using Simulation Technology

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

IMPROVING USAR PREPAREDNESS USING SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY Sherif El-Tawil and Benigno Aguirre Abstract: When a building collapses due to a catastrophic event, stable voids are inevitably formed in the rubble pile. These voids occur as a result of falling structural and nonstructural elements that interact together in a favorable manner to create spaces in which victims may find shelter. Since as many as one third of all building collapse victims that are rescued are found in such spaces, the primary objective of this research is to use state-of-the-art finite element simulations to investigate how, and under what conditions, they are formed. Other secondary objectives are to: 1) create effective training tools based on validated finite element models coupled with virtual reality visualization tools that can be used for training USAR personnel, and 2) develop knowledge that could form the basis of public education and awareness programs to help untrained, impromptu rescuers as well as urban search and rescue taskforces operate more effectively and safely at a collapsed building site. The research will be conducted as a collaborative effort between the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan (UM) and the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware. Broader Impact: The products of the proposed research will be of value to building code associations, architects, engineers, and other professionals involved in building construction. The results will help them make choices of infrastructure design, space-function interrelationships, the creation of building search and rescue policies, staff training, and other matters to maximize survivability during and in the aftermath of building collapse. Moreover, the results will also be of great benefit in guiding and improving the operations of emergent groups of volunteers and SAR taskforces at the federal, state, and local levels at sites of building collapse. As importantly, the project will assist the NSF in its ongoing programmatic efforts to show the practical implications of sound science as well as the important payoffs of interdisciplinary cooperation in sociology and engineering. Project results will also constitute an extended example of induced social change guided by engineering science of importance to the sociology of disasters.