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Analysis and Design of Earthquake Resistant Structures

Final Report Summary - ADERS (Analysis and Design of Earthquake Resistant Structures)

Earthquake Engineering is a multi-disciplinary and constantly evolving science with great economic and social importance, encompassing structural analysis and design, computational methods and material science, both in a deterministic and stochastic context. Recent seismic events in developing countries, as well as in modern cities of developed countries, have shown the large life and economic losses that can occur after a strong earthquake as a consequence of bad structural design and construction of the infrastructure. High quality training and education of professionals and researchers in the field of analysis and design of earthquake resistant structures is of paramount importance in reducing the seismic risk in earthquake vulnerable regions. A glance at the global seismicity map reveals that the countries involved in this Network (Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Mexico, Chile and India) have suffered many devastating earthquakes in their recent and more distant history.

The Network aimed at promoting the research cooperation for the design of earthquake resistant structures by creating strong sustained synergies between the earthquake engineering research and practice in Europe represented by two European Union Member States (EU-MS) (Greece and Cyprus), three countries with an S&T agreement (Chile, India, Mexico) and one country covered by the ENP (Egypt).

The project had a total duration of 4.5 years. The initial duration was 4 years, but 6 months were also added to it as an extension. The objective of the project was in one hand to train highly qualified engineers, by offering them the opportunity to become aware and to study intensively the recent advances in the field of analysis and design of earthquake resistant structures, and on the other hand to expose experienced as well as early stage researchers to the research activity performed by the EU partners in the field of the project. This objective has been satisfactorily achieved. Contacts within the non-EU partners were strengthened by organizing visits from the EU-partners to them for specifying common research interests and by organizing visits of them to the EU partners.