Modern structures are designed to absorb damaged without collapsing, but an event like an earthquake can quickly escalate construction repair costs for aging buildings.
Civil and Environmental Engineers at the University of Michigan are looking into materials rarely used in the construction world for retro-fitting older structures and provide a type of affordable earthquake insulation barrier.
Jason McCormach and his team are looking into the energy dissipating effects from filling the voids in steel structures with polymer foams, metal foams, and an array of high density rubbers.
They are also testing various shape memory alloys that can bend back into place through heat applications, thereby resetting the building after an earthquake.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
