Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Canada's infrastructure (bridges, hospitals, schools, etc.) represents a valuable public asset worth more than $850 billion. To ensure safety and resilience of the infrastructure, understanding performance of structures under various hazards (e.g., earthquake, fire) is crucial. The performance and resiliency of a structure is typically measured in terms of displacement and damage characterization. Conventional measurement methods (strain gauges, manual inspection, etc.) are labour intensive, use contact-based sensors, and can only provide discrete measurements at specific and limited points. Because of these limitations they cannot accurately quantify system-level performance of structures particularly when applied to advanced dynamic testing techniques (hybrid simulation and shake table tests) or under extreme loading conditions. This application involves acquiring a multi-camera digital image correlation (DIC) equipment that allows researchers to accurately and remotely measure 3D displacements and damage progression of the entire 360o surface of large-scale test specimens enabling complete performance evaluation of structures. The equipment is the first of its kind that is specially configured for shake table testing and hybrid (analytical-experimental) simulation under both low-speed (e.g., fire) and high-speed (e.g., earthquake) loading conditions. This unique system enables researchers to measure and investigate the system-level structural behavior under various individual hazard events or complex multi-hazard scenarios (e.g., fire following earthquake) to a degree that was not possible before. Acquiring the equipment will greatly enhance the competitive edge of the applicants' research programs to innovate in the area of infrastructure resilience. With the help of the equipment the applicants will develop breakthrough technologies, design methods, and assessment tools to advance the goals of maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure and design of new high-performance infrastructure. Also, the addition of the equipment to the applicants' research groups will enrich the learning environment by enabling HQP to better understand performance of structures in 3D under complex hazard events leading to high-level skills in the areas of design, safety assessment, maintenance and repair of structures. These skills are highly valued by industry and government organizations and contribute to the future success of HQP. Additionally, the portability of the equipment and its flexibility in the deployment configuration will provide unique opportunities for the research team to collaborate across different engineering disciplines and institutions. Faculty members from other programs including Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering, Pavement Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have already provided concrete plans to use the equipment in their research and training activities.