An Internet-based Educational Platform for Earthquake Engineering

Laboratory Experiments

Chencheng Wu, Le Yu, Shirley J. Dyke, Chencheng Wu, Le Yu, Shirley J. Dyke, Christopher Beeler and Jian OuyangChristopher Beeler and Jian Ouyang

Purdue UniversityPurdue University

iCEER 2011iCEER 2011Belfast, IrelandBelfast, Ireland

Earthquakes Worldwide

Eastern US Earthquake (August 24th 2011)

Introduction

• Earthquake simulator tables, or shake tables, are used for experimental research in earthquake engineering.

• This equipment is capable of reproducing the motion of the ground during an earthquake, allowing for controlled testing of structures subjected to earthquakes.

• New concepts and techniques are often tested on scaled structures using shake tables before implementation.

• Bench-scale shake tables offer an ideal mechanism to provide students access to such “hands-on” experiments.

NEES•3435 registered NEEShub users and thousands of NEES users of equipment sites and cyberinfrastructure at any point in time highlight the global reach of NEES.

•NEEScomm

• Data Repository• Computational Simulation• Community Support

•NEES Sites

•Cornell University

•University of Minnesota

•University of Texas

•Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

•University of Nevada, Reno

•UC SanDiego

•University of California, Los Angeles

•UC Santa Barbara

•University of California, Davis

•University of California, Berkeley

•Oregon State University

•University of Illinois

•Lehigh University

•University at Buffalo

Existing state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure tools developed by NEESit, the technical support and development component of NEES, have been developed recently for

teleparticipation and teleoperation.

We have been able to take advantage of these capabilities to educate the

next generation of civil engineers!

Introduction

Outline• Objectives of the Collaboratory• Lab Station Components• Instructional Materials Available

– Freshman Level Undergraduate Module– Senior Level Structural Dynamics Experiments

• Evaluation of the Program • Closing

Objectives of the Collaboratory

• To provide engineering students– an understanding of structural dynamics– experience with modern laboratory equipment

and instrumentation– exposure to NEES and the latest capabilities

regarding remote testing teleparticipation tools– provide a mechanism for training students to

perform experiments– broader access to such tools– opportunities for K-12 outreach

Objectives of the Collaboratory

• 2 Lead Institutions– develop 2 initial exercises– evaluation & adapt

• 5 Deployment Sites– implement 2 exercise– develop new exercises

• Available to users

Lab Station: Overview

System Architecture

UCIST LabVEW Server

Remote PC

•TCP

Data Turbine PC

RBNB Server

UCIST PC(LabVIEW Machine)

UCIST Shake Table

Control ServerTCP Server

DAQ Daemon

CompactRIO

Axis Web Camera

RDV

Teleoperation Control Panel

NI- DAQ

•Port = 8090

•Port = 3333

UCIST Shake Table

12

•CompactRIO 9516

Remote PC - Teleoperation Control Panel

Remote PC - Teleoperation Control Panel

14

UCIST PC Teleoperation• TCP server

– Listen on port 8090– Receive commands from remote PC

• Simulation pattern• Excitation parameters (eg. Amplitude & Frequency)• Simulation duration

– Send commands to and receive feedbacks from Control Server

• Control server – Receive commands from TCP Server– Generate excitations according to simulation

pattern and parameters (eg. Sinusoidal )– Move Shake Table with generated excitations

15

UCIST PC

Remote PC

UCIST Shake Table

TCP Server

Control Server

•Commands

RBNB Server

16

Introduction to Earthquake Engineering

Freshman Engineering module developed at the University of Connecticut

Instructional Materials• Students learn necessary mathematics to

study the forced and free vibration of a single-degree-of-freedom structure

• A 1-story seismically excited shear frame is used to apply their new knowledge

Instructional Materials• Overview (Freshman Level 3 weeks)

– Earthquake Engineering Introduction– SDOF Equations of Motion– Programming in Matlab– NEES Introduction– Teleparticipation & Teleoperation of Actual

Experiment

• Each student is required to submit weekly homeworks and a final lab report including a discussion of observations and results

Two Experiments Developed for Structural Dynamics

Senior/Grad LevelExperiments developed at

Purdue University

Instructional Materials• EXPERIMENT 2: Design Vibration Absorber

– Two DOF building model– Passive device to reduce responses– Design length of pendulum and additional mass– Verify control results using teleoperation

Lab Station: Activities

University of California, Berkeley Model Shake--Aftermath

Evaluation Program

• Evaluation & Feedback– On-line surveys conducted to obtain student

and faculty input– Evaluation expert is part of the project

• 12 undergraduate engineering courses at 5 universities over the course of four years; total of 505 students surveyed

Evaluation Program

• Goals1. Describe classroom implementation of virtual laboratory2. Estimate the impact of virtual experiments on student learning3. Describe associations between gender and patterns in learning

• Comments– “[It] Was very hands on, and many people learn better

by doing and seeing than just calculations” – “It was a very interesting experience. The fact that you

could manipulate a structure in another building across campus from you room is amazing.”

Benefits to the Students

• More flexible and complex experiments using multiple sites

• Experience with cyberinfrastructure• Flexible scheduling of experiments• Access for students at a larger number of

universities to participate in advanced experiments

Implications for Engineering Educators

• Provide opportunities for students worldwide to use tele-operated shake tables for learning

• Review resources at NEES and UCIST

• Think creatively about student experiences in your classroom, especially the extent to which men and women may perceive differences in their abilities that may contribute to differential rates of pursuit of further engineering education.

Acknowledgments

• NSF DUE 0618605 and 1058462 (CCLI)

• NEESinc and NEESit

• NSF funding for UCIST (1998-2002)– Support for UCIST from NSF Grant (DUE

9950340)– Mid-America Earthquake Center

• Quanser Consulting

2020 Vision Report

• January 26-27, 2010• Identify the major strategic

directions for the future of earthquake engineering research and education

http://nees.org

For more information see:For more information see:

http://engineering.purdue.edu/ucistand

http://nees.org/