Research

NSF-EAGER

09/2017~08/2021  EAGER: Collaborative Research: A Science-Based Exploration of Invariant Signatures of Architecture,

                               Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Objects to Enable Interoperability of  BIM

Funded by: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Role: Principle Investigator (with co-PI Dr. P. Ari-Gur)

To address the interoperability challenges of Building Information Modeling (BIM) among the software of different engineering application, and to take a science-based and empirical data-driven approach to search for the intrinsic properties of AEC objects that do not change based on data schema, software implementation, and/or language/culture contexts, the goal of the proposed research is to scientifically, empirically, and systematically explore the intrinsic properties of AEC objects, to develop invariant signatures of them for supporting a seamless and universal interoperability of different engineering analysis using BIM. An invariant signature of an AEC object is defined as a set of intrinsic properties of the object that distinguish the object from others and do not change based on data schema, software implementation, modeling decisions, an/or language/culture contexts. Accordingly, three specific research tasks were carried out:

1.     Develop a geometric signature for each selected common AEC object shape, using the most fundamental information (i.e., Cartesian points) that describe the outline of the geometric shape.

2.     Develop locational and material signatures of AEC objects.

Validate the invariant signatures by testing them in the automated AEC object classification, quantity takeoff, and structural analysis scenarios, and demonstrate their advantages in supporting BIM interoperability over existing methods.                           Return to Top 

WMU-GCRC-Woodframe Simulation

06/2018–09/2019   A Simulation-Based Investigation of Adhesive Construction to Enhance Hazard Resilience of  Woodframe Residential  Buildings

Funded by: Georgeau Construction Research Institute, WMU

Role: Principle Investigator

The objective of the research is to study the state-of-the-art modelling methods for wooden frame building construction. These modeling methods are at different levels of variations and complexities. The numerical modelling tools are categorized into academic tools and commercial tools and the modeling methods are classified based on the structural systems (i.e., shear walls and the whole building structures) and applied loads (i.e., wind loading and seismic loading). The academic tools were mainly developed for seismic research purpose with specific objectives such as defining the behavior of wooden frame shear walls, hysteretic behavior of connections between the sheathing and framing members under seismic loading. Models created using commercial tools, on the other hands, are generally used to predict structural responses under seismic and wind loadings and are usually validated using experimental results. Two of the commercial tools widely used for creating wood structural numerical models are ABAQUS/CAE and SAP2000. The simplified modelling method including inbuilt SAP functions was studied from the literature and the detailed modelling process was developed and presented. Both linear and nonlinear analysis of wooden frame structure was carried out considering wind and seismic loading conditions. Lastly, recommendations for future research are provided.                               Return to Top 

WMU-GCRC-Adhesive Application

6/2017–09/2018  An Innovative Application of Construction Adhesive to Enhance Resilience of Wood Residential Buildings  to Natural Hazards

Funded by: Georgeau Construction Research Institute, WMU

Role: Principle Investigator

Part (I):  The goal of the first part of this research is to increase the uplift capacity of wood connections to withstand high wind events. To achieve this goal, an experimental study was performed to obtain the maximum capacity of uplift load and energy absorption in roof-to-wall connections by applying modern construction adhesives. Two types of commercially available adhesive materials, namely polyether and polyurethane, were adopted in this research. Monotonic uplift tests were performed on 40 rafter-to-double top plates connections with eight configurations; among them, six configurations were applied with adhesives whereas half of them were reinforced with a hurricane tie. Experimental results contributed essential data on the failure modes and capacities of connection specimens. Comparison of the test results of connections with and without adhesives revealed that the addition of adhesives significantly increased the uplift capacity and absorbed energy, allowing the tied and untied configurations (with hurricane tie) to provide higher loads (200 ~ 460%) and considerably increased the strain energy by 200~750%. The failure modes of the nails, adhesives, and wood materials were inspected to provide a reasonable explanation of the observed increased capacities.

Part (II): As revealed in Part (I) of this project, a significant increase in load capacity, absorbing energy, and ductility ratios of the roof-to-wall connections with adhesives were obtained when compared to those of connection built with nails-only. It was expected such improvements would be obtained in the seismic performance of wood-frame buildings and especially in their connections with adhesive application. This became the primary motivation of this second part of the project, with an objective to surmount the limitations of existing construction method including brittle wood materials and fatigue damage in fasteners. A total of twenty-one shear wall stud-to-sill-plate connection specimens representing three configurations were built and tested. Nails-only connections were the reference specimens and the other two configurations were applied with two adhesives, namely polyurethane and polyether. For each configuration seven specimens were built, two of which were tested under monotonic loading and the remaining five were tested under cyclic loading. Experimental results of monotonic and cyclic loading tests contributed essential data on the failure modes, stiffness, and energy dissipation of connection specimens and showed promising outcomes of employing adhesives in construction to advance seismic performance of wood frame buildings.                                                                                                Return to Top 

WMU-FRACAA

01/2014 -06/30/2016 Smart Real-Time Hybrid Simulation to Advance Earthquake Engineering Experimental Methods

Funded by: WMU Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award

Role: Co-Principle Investigator

The goal of this FRACCA project was to enhance real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) testing capability for complex structural system and to improve accuracy of RTHS results. Three research tasks were carried out: 1) Selecting an efficient and accurate algorithm to update computational models in hybrid simulation was critical to the success of this project; 2) Implementing online model updating numerically (i.e., virtual RTHS (vRTHS) with online model updating); and 3) Experimentally validate its effectiveness in improve simulation’s accuracy.                 Return to Top 

NSF-NEESSoft

10/2010~09/2012    NEESR-CR: NEESsoft: Seismic Risk Reduction for Soft Story Wood frame Buildings

Funded by: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Project location: Western Michigan University

Role: Co-Principle Investigator

NEESsoft project is focused on 1) enabling performance-based seismic retrofit of soft-story wood frame buildings; 2) experimentally validating recently proposed concepts in force-based retrofit of soft-story wood frame buildings, and 3) providing a fundamental understanding of collapse mechanisms in wood frame buildings through a systematic experimental program consisting of three major test types at two NEES equipment sites. 

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NSF-UB-Hybrid Simulation Platform

07/2009-09/2009     Implementation and Execution of Hybrid Simulation Platform for Seismic Performance Evaluation of Structures through Collapse

Funded by: University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (through a subcontract of an NSF funded research project)

Project location: Western Michigan University

Role: Principle Investigator

A hybrid numerical and  simulation to collapse was conducted on a one-half scale moment resisting frame building with two experimental substructures located at Kyoto University, Japan and University at Buffalo, United States.                                                                            Return to Top 

 NSF-NEES-UB RTDHS

Software Package

10/2006~07/2007     Software framework package of Real time dynamic hybrid simulation (UB)

Funded by: NSF through George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES ) Consortium Operation and                       Maintenance funds for Equipment sites.

Project location: NEES equipment site at University at Buffalo

Role: Senior development engineer

The unified controller platform was packaged to a software framework and the corresponding user’s manual was drafted with both software and hardware integrations and Hybrid simulation implementation details.

Unified Platform

02/2002~09/2006      Development of a Unified Control Platform for Real time Dynamic Hybrid Simulation

Funded by: NSF NEES Consortium Operation and Maintenance

Project location: University at Buffalo

Role: Research assistant

Real Time Dynamic Hybrid Simulation (RTDHS) was first proposed for structural engineering to evaluate the seismic performance of structural systems/components by combining the physical test and numerical simulation.  During a hybrid simulation, the whole structure under investigation is divided into two parts. The part being physically constructed and tested is considered as the experimental substructure. The physical test can be conduced using either shake tables or dynamic actuators or both of them depending on the researcher’s interest. The rest part of the structure, named as the computational substructure, is numerically modeled and simulated so the dynamic effect on experimental substructure at the interface is determined and applied by physical loading systems.  The RTDHS is a force-based method and includes the currently used seismic testing methods within a unified formulation developed in this dissertation.

The hardware components necessary for RTDHS were integrated into a unified control platform, which includes Structural and Seismic Testing Controllers; Data Acquisition and Information Streaming and Real Time Hybrid Simulation Controllers. A framework to drive the  RTDHS test was designed and implemented to fulfill the function, such as structure response simulations, interface force calculations and compensations necessary to synchronize all components as well as their imperfect performance.  The test platform developed facilitates not only the local RTDHS test but addresses geographically distributed hybrid simulation as well. Its flexible architecture allows to make improvements without modifying the hardware infrastructure.

While a number of tests were performed in medium scale, a small scale pilot setup including a one story shear model, an actuator and a one directional shake table were constructed for the proof-of-concept of the proposed unified control platform. A three story hybrid simulated structure was tested.  Test results verify the concept of the proposed unified formulation in RTDHS and the feasibility of the corresponding operating platform. 

High Performance Testing Facility

05/2002~08/2004       Versatile High Performance Shake Tables Facility Towards Real-time Hybrid Seismic Testing Large-Scale High Performance Testing Facility Towards Real-Time Hybrid Seismic Testing

Funded by: NSF   

Project location: University at Buffalo

Role: Research assistant

To experimentally acquire and validate the necessary knowledge of seismic design and analysis of buildings, bridges, lifelines and other infrastructure, large scale modular and high flexible Real time hybrid testing system with was developed through this pair of project being conducted at NEES facility at UB.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Return to Top 

NSFC-Concrete Crack Control

09/1999~12/1999       Thermal Stress and Crack Control of Integral Casting Wall of Basement

 Funded by: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

Project location: Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Role: Research assistant

Thermal stress in concrete and the corresponding crack mechanism were studied and a prediction formulation was proposed. Then a FEM program was developed to simulate the thermal stress field.

09/1999~06/2001       Optimization Design of Scaffold for High Rise Residential Building Construction

Funded by: Shanghai Construction and Management Commission

Project location: Tongji University

Role: Research assistant

A FEM analysis was conducted to optimize the design of scaffold for high rise residential building construction with consideration of aging elastic modulus of concrete. Corresponding construction drawings were prepared.

01/2000~07/2001       Application of High Performance Concrete (HPC) in Reinforced Concrete Structures

Funded by: Shanghai Science and Technology Development Foundation

Project location: Tongji University

Role: Research assistant

As fiber joining into concrete, the mechanical behavior of concrete will be changed. The calculating formulas of cracking load, ultimate load, and crack width given by general concrete code for common reinforced concrete beam are not hold properly.  This project studied the bending test on high strength high modulus polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber reinforced concrete beam.  Based on the measured data and cracking behavior, a crack width formula of PVA fiber reinforced concrete beam were proposed.                                                                                           

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