BlackboardWHEEL Research
Civil & Environmental Engineering
The Wind Hazard and Earthquake Engineering Lab, or WHEEL, was established in 1999 as part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering to promote research into the effect of wind and earthquakes loads on civil engineering structures. Today, under the direction of Dr. Makola Abdullah and Dr. Ken Walsh, the lab continues its tradition of conducting quality research in these areas and has also expanded its scope to include research on the effect of blast loads on structures. In one of the more recent projects the lab is working on, researchers from WHEEL are collaborating with the University of Florida to quantify the vulnerability of residential structures to wind damage, and provide a direct measurement of the effectiveness of pre- and post-construction mitigation measures. The ongoing project involves destructive testing of both as-built and retrofitted residential homes in the State of Florida to determine the amount of increased protection offered by retrofits. The study will provide a rational basis for mitigation decisions for existing homes as well as possible selection of code plus measures for new homes that will enhance wind resistance.
Researchers from WHEEL have also just recently completed a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation in which a new type of lateral bracing system, the suspended zipper frame, was developed and analyzed to determine its capacity to dissipate detrimental vibrational energy in buildings during earthquakes. The suspended zipper frame is designed to control the distribution of earthquake-induced damage in buildings. It is based on a specific failure mechanism, in which members of the bracing system yield in a predetermined manner so as to maximize lateral stiffness while increasing the building's energy dissipation capacity. For their part of the collaborative effort, researchers at WHEEL conducted numerical studies to determine the effect of incorporating supplemental damping devices into the suspended zipper frame. Results from the study indicate that the damping device is effective in increasing the energy dissipation of the suspended zipper frame without significantly affecting its failure mechanism.
In addition to projects in wind and earthquake engineering, researchers at WHEEL are also working with the Department of Homeland Security to help construct an integrated modeling and simulation framework to provide a training aid to decision-makers for responding to catastrophic events. As part of the research effort, WHEEL joins a multi-disciplinary team of researchers at universities around the country to develop and test a prototype simulation for the release and airborne transport of a dangerous chemical agent in a representative urban environment. The initiating event for the chemical release is a blast detonation on the tank of a railcar transporting chlorine gas. The simulation of the blast detonation and resulting railcar penetration is being handled by researchers at WHEEL. This is a critical component of the prototype simulation as the blast hole size is the determining factor for the release rate of the chlorine gas and subsequent transport simulation. Validation of the prototype simulation framework is forthcoming.
