Look Who it Was Random video

Make It Earthquake-Proof

2,327 views · Published 7 January 2015 · 3:14 · Indexed 23 October 2026

Channel: Michigan Engineering · 2015 · Science & Technology

Watch on YouTube

Modern structures are designed to absorb damage 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 McCormick 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.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR
Jason P. McCormick, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research interests are in the general area of earthquake engineering, extreme load mitigation, and structural response reduction through innovative systems. A component of this work includes characterizing and optimizing the properties of innovative materials, such as shape memory alloys, through multi-scale experimental programs in order to incorporate them into structural systems. These research efforts provide a means of incorporating multi-disciplinary efforts into the mitigation of damage to infrastructural systems during extreme events.

http://cee.engin.umich.edu/Jason_McCormick

More from this channel