2018 Seismic Design Team

Our team designed a structure (Pearl Plaza) that consisted of four shear core walls to reduce the effect of torsion on our building when tested on a shake table. Team members Mackenzie Finklea, Christine Cheng, and Kee Young Jung gave a technical presentation of the structural, architectural, and economic aspects of the design of the structure to a panel of professional judges.

The design process involved fabrication using balsa wood sheets and members and a wood glue that was tested for strength and adhesion properties. Members of the team contributed throughout the course of a month leading up to the competition to construct the structure floor by floor.

During the competition our structure performed well, surviving all three simulated ground motions with only the top floor falling through during the last “optional” motion. Overall, our team placed 28^th out of 33 teams based on our Final Annual Building Income Score. EERI’s SLC members awarded our team the Egor Popov Award for Structural Innovation, which recognizes a team that “makes the best use of technology and/or structural design to resist seismic loading”.

Over the course of this year, our team learned how to use SAP and Revit software with structural engineering graduate students and undergraduate architectural engineering students, as well as developing build and design schedules. Moving forward to next year, we hope to incorporate more precise construction methods into our build process with methods such as laser cutting, and printing individual (to-scale) floor templates. We are looking forward to improving on what we’ve learned this year and competing once again in Los Angeles, California in 2018! Thank you to our sponsors who helped fund our construction and competition costs!

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