September 23, 1999
LAWRENCE -- While earthquakes half the world away rocked Turkey, Greece and Taiwan, a graduate student right here at the University of Kansas was conducting research that may help buildings withstand future disasters.
Jon Lindsey, Kansas City, Kan., doctoral student in civil engineering, has constructed a simulator that tests the effects of earthquakes on building beams and columns.
The $70,000 device uses a hydraulic actuator to exert force on a joint that connects two 15-foot-long steel I-beams set at right angles to each other. The two beams represent a building's floor beam and its vertical wall column.
In his most recent test, Lindsey had the actuator exert enough force to bend the steel floor beam, which was 21 inches deep. He said the object of this test was to turn the floor beam into a hinge by pushing its limit of plasticity, so that it absorbed most of the energy from the quake, allowing the vertical column to remain intact. When this happens, the floor buckles, but the walls won't come crashing down, he said.
"The building still sustains damage," Lindsey said, "but at least this way people will have the chance to get out."
Kim Roddis, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, said Lindsey first approached her about the project five years ago, while he was still an undergraduate. "This is such a big project," she said. "The results and recommendations on joint design are what we will be publishing as his doctoral thesis."
Roddis said that the initial tests have proven that floor beams and wall columns that are connected by prefabricated steel joints fare much better than joints that are welded on site. "People think of buildings as beams and columns held together by several thousand connections when really it's the opposite," she said. "A building is actually several connections that happen to link beams and columns."
Roddis said that this understanding, known as moment rotation behavior of end-plate constructions, probably could help prevent thousands of deaths. Indeed, many of the more than 15,000 fatalities caused by the Turkish earthquake on Aug. 17 are believed to have resulted from poor construction techniques, she said.
Lindsey, meanwhile, said that he would continue with his tests for another year. After that, he hopes to find a job as a licensed civil engineer in an area subjected to seismic activity. He said he hoped that other students would continue testing the simulator after he left KU. As he looked down on the bent steel beam, he said that the project was both overwhelming and rewarding.
"It scares me a little bit how good the results are thus far," Lindsey said. "But it lets me know that I'm on the right path."
Contact: Ranjit Arab, (785) 864-8855.