University at Buffalo – Structural Earthquake Engineering Systems Laboratory
The Structural Earthquake Engineering Systems Laboratory has a five-degree of
freedom shake table which means it can move in five different directions (horizontal,
vertical, pitch, roll and yawl). For us that means it moves in one horizontal direction and
the vertical direction. The table is 12’ X 12’ but has been extended with a reinforced
concrete testing platform which extends the size to 20’ X 12’. The table has a useful
frequency range from 0 to 50 Hz.
The table is capable of a 6 in. movement, 30 in./sec velocity and 1.15g acceleration at
a payload of 44,000 pounds in the horizontal direction, and 3 in. movement, 20 in./sec
velocity and 2.30g acceleration in the vertical direction. This capability is greatly
increased as the payload decreases.
The laboratory is equipped with numerous velocity and displacement transducers, which
are tied to a data acquisition system networked into the Universities computer system
which can be transferred to computers around the world.
UB’s Structural Earthquake Engineering Systems Laboratory (SEESL), is the flagship
laboratory in the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
(MCEER).This will be a key piece of a nationwide “collaboratory” developed by Network
for Earthquake Engineering Simulation in which earthquake engineers located at
different institutions will be able to share resources and work together.
The Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) is a
national center of excellence that develops and applies knowledge and advanced
technologies to reduce earthquake losses.
Headquartered at the University at Buffalo, the Center was established in 1986 by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) as the country’s first National Center for Earthquake
Engineering Research (NCEER).
MCEER unites a group of leading researchers from numerous disciplines and institutions
throughout the United States to integrate knowledge, expertise, and interdisciplinary
perspective with state-of-the-art experimental and computational facilities in the fields of
earthquake engineering and socioeconomic studies.
The result is a systematic "engineered" program of basic and applied research that
produces solutions and strategies to reduce the structural and socioeconomic impacts of
earthquakes.
MCEER is principally sponsored by: the National Science Foundation, New York State
and the Federal Highway Administration. The Center receives additional support from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other state governments,
academic institutions, foreign governments and private industry.
The Center’s mission is:
"to enhance the seismic resiliency of communities through improved engineering
and management tools for critical infrastructure systems (water supply, electric
power, hospitals). Seismic resilience (technical, organizational, social and
economic) is characterized by reduced probability of system failure, reduced
consequences due to failure, and reduced time to system restoration."
Since its inception, MCEER has coordinated more than $120 million in projects to
reduce our nation’s vulnerability to earthquakes.