Distribution of Weight for an Earthquake-Proof House
While it may be impossible to completely earthquake-proof a house, engineers at Penn State University are working to design a better formula for distribution of weight in a building so it can survive an earthquake. Does this Spark an idea?
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Techniques to Distribute Weight
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Engineers and architects use devices such as foundation bolts and floor-to-wall connection brackets to distribute the weight of a building to help hold it up against gravity during an earthquake. However, to distribute weight for the sideways force that an earthquake causes, homeowners need to create a rigid boxlike structure of their home by tying together the walls, roof and floor. This is common in houses that were built after 1978.
Engineers and Earthquakes
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Ali Memari, Ph.D., an architectural engineering professor at Penn State University, is researching a "fuse" system that uses a lumber or concrete disk the size of a hockey puck that provides support while allowing the sideways movement of an earthquake to pass through a wall and a door or window frame. If, however, the force of the earthquake is too much for the "fuse," it will break. But the wall is still safe, and the "fuse" can be replaced afterward.
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Weights and Measures
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The engineers at Penn State University create mini earthquakes on a specialized table that simulates the shaking of an earthquake and then take the results to a laboratory with a life-size wall. Here they can test the amount of weight that a structure's masonry infill walls and beams and columns can bear. This testing shows where the weaknesses are and aids in making houses earthquake-proof.
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- Photo Credit destruction of building image by pixelcarpenter from Fotolia.com
