Research

Civil Infrastructure Systems Resilience

The safety, security, prosperity, and social well-being of communities depend on the resilience of civil infrastructure systems such as transportation networks, power grid, water and wastewater systems, gas supply systems, etc. Disruptions to civil infrastructure can compromise the activities of security agencies, jeopardize public health, and disrupt economic activities. It is, therefore, imperative to prevent/minimize such disruptions. However, experience from recent disasters has shown that the level of preparedness and response of affected communities in the U.S. and around the world is inadequate. The recovery of a community after a disaster depends on the resilience of its infrastructure. The U.S. National Infrastructure Advisory Council defined infrastructure resilience as “the ability to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events.”

At RCIS, we develop methods for risk management and resilience improvement for civil infrastructure systems. Specific areas of expertise include (1) natural hazards modeling, (2) empirical and analytical structural component vulnerability modeling, (2) system reliability analysis, (3) infrastructure interdependence modeling, (4) risk-based decision making, (5) life-cycle cost analysis, and (6) post-disaster repair planning.

Goal: Develop methods for civil infrastructure risk assessment and propose cost-effective strategies to reduce the magnitude and duration of disruptions.

Community Resilience

The ability of communities to recover rapidly from natural disasters not only depends on the resilience of infrastructure but also on their social and economic systems. At the RCIS lab, we work with researchers in economics and social science to model the interaction of physical, economic, and social infrastructure systems and how their interaction affects recovery efforts.

Goal: Improve the ability of communities to prepare, withstand, and recover rapidly from natural disasters.

Infrastructure Maintenance

Asset management is one of the crucial aspects of concern to decision-makers and involves several actions such as component acquisition, maintenance, replacement, and disposition. One of the most important aspects of asset management is preventive and corrective maintenance. The purpose of such maintenance measures is to extend the service life of components and/or reduce their probability of failure. Civil infrastructure managers are constantly exploring ways to optimize the use of available resources for maintenance while ensuring an acceptable level of performance.

At RCIS, we aim to develop methods for optimal maintenance of civil infrastructure systems under resource constraints. Specific objectives include (1) develop, compare, and validate physically-based and statistically-based infrastructure components failure prediction models, and (2) develop system-level maintenance planning models.

Goal: Develop a multi-objective optimization framework for investment in maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement of infrastructure systems.

Climate Change Adaptation

Investment in civil infrastructure is considered a long-term investment due to the long service life of the assets. It is, therefore, imperative for decision makers to consider the uncertainties inherent in such long-term investments that will impact return on investment as well as customer satisfaction. One such uncertainty is the potential impact of climate change on the frequency and intensity of natural hazard as well as the rate of infrastructure deterioration. At the RCIS lab, we model the impact of climate change on the long-term risk and performance of civil infrastructure systems.

Goal: Incorporate the potential impact of climate change into infrastructure and community resilience assessment studies and develop cost-effective adaptation strategies.