4th NEES Annual Meeting Kenneth H. Stokoe, IIWashington, DC June 22, 2006

Collaborative Activities of a NEES Equipment Site:

Examples from nees@UTexas

Outline

• Mission of Equipment Sites

• Introduction to nees@UTexas

• On-going NEESR Projects

• On-going non-NEESR Projects

• Education, Outreach, and Training

Mission of Equipment Sites

1. Equipment Sites (ES) facilitate large-scale field and laboratory experiments that were not possible before the NEES Collaboratory

• maintain, operate and enhance the major pieces of the testing equipment

• educate potential users, advise and assist in proposal preparation, participate in safely conducting the experiments, and assist in importing data to NEEScentral

2. ES support education, outreach and training activities

Introduction to nees@UTexas

Personnel at nees@UTexas

PI: Kenneth H. Stokoe, II

Co-PI: Ellen M. Rathje

Co-PI: Clark R. Wilson

Operations Manager: Farn-Yuh Menq

Computer Systems Analyst: Christopher Stanton

Vibroseis Specialist: Cecil Hoffpauir

Mechanical Technician: Andy Valentine

Electrical Technician: Frank Wise

Administrative Staff: Teresa Tice-Boggs andNorma Gonzales

Overview of nees@UTexas Equipment Site

Function: dynamic field testing of geotechnical and structural systems with large-scale mobile shakers

Equipment:

• Three mobile shakers with diverse force and frequency capabilities

• Tractor-trailer rig to move shakers

• Instrumentation van + trailer

• Wired and wireless data acquisition systems

• State-of-the-art field instrumentation

• Tele-presence capabilities for remote researcher interaction

Tri-Axial Shaker (“T-Rex”)

• Buggy-mounted vibrator• Total weight – 64,000 lb

(29,030 kg)• 32 ft (9.8 m) long• 8 ft (2.4 m) wide

• 3 Vibration orientations– Vertical– Horizontal in-line– Horizontal cross-line

• Uses vegetable-based hydraulic oil (Mobile EAL 224H)

Hollow Push Rod

Liquefiable Layer

Liquefaction Sensor

Wire Ropeand

Electrical Cable

Hydraulic Cylinder

Installation of Embedded Sensors

Low-Frequency Shaker (“Liquidator”)

• Built on same platform as the T-Rex

• Optimized for low-frequency (down to 0.5 Hz) force output

Urban Shaker (“Thumper”)

• Built for high-frequency force output (beyond range of T-Rex and Liquidator)

• Built for use in urban environments

• Total weight = 22,600 lb (9,980 kg)

• Peak force = 6,000 lb (26.7 kN)

• Transformable to operate vertically or horizontally

Tractor-Trailer Transport System(for T-Rex and Liquidator)

Instrumentation Van + Trailer

On-going NEESR Projects

Collaborative Research: Using NEES as a Testbed for Studying Soil-Foundation-Structure-Interaction

PI: Sharon L. Wood

Universities involved: University of Texas at Austin, Purdue University, University of California–Davis, University of Nevada-Reno, University of Washington-Seattle, and University of California–Berkeley

Field Evaluation of Liquefaction Resistance at Previous Liquefaction Sites in Southern California (Imperial Valley)

PIs: Kenneth H. Stokoe, II and Ellen Rathje

nees@UCSBWildlife Refuge Liquefaction Field Site

Study of Surface Wave Methods for Deep Shear Wave Velocity Profiling Applied to the Deep Sediments of the Mississippi

EmbaymentPI: Brent Rosenblad

Liquidator

MORT strong motion Station at Tiptonville, TN

On-going Non-NEESR Projects

(also “Outreach” Activity)

Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Wave (SASW) Testing at Yucca Mountain Site

PI: Kenneth H. Stokoe, II

Education, Outreach, and Training

Education: Undergraduate Foundation Engineering Class

Education: Graduate Soil Dynamics Class

Education: Demonstration at an Elementary School in Gosnell, AR

Topic: exploring the potential of a multi-facility and multi-funded approach to solving scientific and engineering problems

Where: University of Texas, Austin, Texas

When: April 29 and 30, 2004

Recent Outcome: 3 projects

Outreach: NEES/IRIS/USGS Workshop

Primarily funded by IRIS and USGS

Spearheaded by Joan Gomberg, USGS

31 invited participants

Outreach: NEES/IRIS/USGS Workshop

Up Coming Users' Training

• When: mid November, registration opens on October 1st.

• What: choosing the right equipment, budget planning, test scheduling, and using SingleShot.

• Why: get your NEESR proposal done faster.

• Where: WebEx based on-line training – no traveling cost!

Thank You

• U. S. National Science Foundation, Directorate for Engineering, Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems for funding under the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program Contract No. CMS-0086605 (Construction Phase)

• NEESinc supported by the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program of the National Science Foundation under Award Number CMS-0402490 (Operation Phase)