Final Report Summary - ACES (Advanced centre of excellence in structural and earthquake engineering)
Executive summary:
Since long, construction has been one of the largest sectors in the economy of Greece. Structural and earthquake engineering (SEE) are very important for the European Union's (EU) convergence region of western Greece (capital: Patras, Greece's third city), which has the highest seismicity in the EU and several infrastructure projects ongoing. The civil engineering department of the University of Patras is relatively young; its most internationally known group is in structures, with some top quality faculty and two active research and technological development (RTD) laboratories, in structures and in structural materials. The European Community (EC) supported the structures group to enhance its position and ensure continuity to its up-and-coming generation of junior faculty via the support project 'Advanced centre of excellence in SEE' (ACES) of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), FP7-Regpot-2007-1, for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions. ACES run from 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2012 as a single-beneficiary project, with seven RTD centres as non-contractual networking partners:
1. the Building Research Establishment, United Kingdom (UK), EU's largest fire testing facility
2. the Tamaris Seismic Laboratory in Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique (CEA), France (FR), the top shaking table facility in EU
3. the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA)
4. the European Lab for Structural Assessment (ELSA) at the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC), EU's largest seismic lab
5. the Politecnico di Torino, Italy (IT)
6. the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands (NL) and
7. the Geophysical Laboratory at the Université J. Fourier in Grenoble (FR).
Representatives of these partners form the ACES international scientific committee. In the course of four years ACES enhanced the human and material resources of the structures group, its know-how and international visibility through the following:
1. hiring of three post-doctoral researchers (one with a doctorate from the University of Patras acting as manager, another with a doctorate from the Politecnico di Milano and eight years of RTD experience at ELSA/JRC and a third with a PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo, one of top United States of America (USA) centres in earthquake engineering, all of which continue after the end of ACES
2. three custom-made large capacity, fast ('dynamic') servohydraulic force actuators and four advanced controllers, allowing the structures lab to carry out fast hybrid seismic tests (with the linear part of the structure computationally simulated in real-time and the non-linear and rate-dependent one physically tested)
3. a cluster of 12 nodes (parallel processors) for simulation of seismic fault rupture and wave propagation in three dimensions
4. the nucleus of a fire testing facility around a custom made 3m x 3m x 1.2m vertical furnace for fire resistance testing of materials, components or systems, in a new infrastructure provided by the university, to be soon supplemented (via funds from the region of western Greece) with a gas supply system, a chimney, a 3m x 4m x 1.7m horizontal furnace with a rig for static loading under fire and a 'single burning item'. The complete facility will be unique in Greece and the surrounding countries.
5. an international workshop on 'Performance-based earthquake engineering', with 16 participants from Greece, 28 from the rest of Europe, 16 from north America and 5 from the Pacific region - all among the world's top experts in earthquake engineering, and another on 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction', with 6 participants from Greece, 31 from the rest of Europe, 1 from Canada, 9 from Asia and the Pacific region, all among the world's top experts in concrete. The proceedings of peer-reviewed papers were published by Springer (ISBN 978-90-481-8745-4, ISBN 978-94-007-1996-5).
6. web-based real-time access and tele-presence of the outside scientific community to testing at the structures lab and to an in-house built database for each testing campaign
7. a 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects' in English and Greek, accessible at http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191
8. a University of Patras RTD report series in SEE (SEE), with seven reports produced so far (two of them in English and Greek) accessible through nodes 153, 154, 179, 180, 191, 194, 195 at http://www.aces.upatras.gr
9. few-day-long training and training material on the European standards (EN) structural Eurocodes for practicing engineers in Patras and Cephalonia, in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece and the Society of Civil Engineers (see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/Eurocode_seminars).
Project context and objectives:
Since long, construction has been one of the largest sectors in the economy of Greece. SEE are very important for the EU's convergence region of western Greece (whose capital is Patras, Greece's third city in size), which has the highest seismicity in Europe and has several infrastructure projects ongoing. The civil engineering department of the University of Patras is relatively young, established in 1972. Its most active and internationally known group is that of structures, which grants an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology (MEEES) jointly with the University of Pavia (Italy), the J. Fourier University in Grenoble (France) and the Middle East Technical University (Turkey) and an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in earthquake engineering for the Eurasian university network for international cooperation in earthquakes (EU-NICE, together with Universita di Roma-La Sapienza and the Universities of Chieti-Pescara and Basilicata in Italy and of Aveiro in Portugal). The group has some top quality faculty (most of which have studied and taught at top US universities) and supports two research laboratories: in structures and in structural materials - both best equipped and most active in their field country-wise.
The structures group has made a concerted effort to enhance its position and ensure continuity to its up-and-coming generation of junior faculty, by improving and modernising its laboratories and by networking with top European RTD centres. The EU supported this effort by funding the single-beneficiary support project ACES of the FP7, theme FP7-Regpot-2007-1 for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions. The proposal for ACES shared second place among 23 projects funded by the EC in the first call of FP7-Regpot (in spring 2007).
ACES aims at unlocking, enhancing and developing further the research potential of the structures group and its two laboratories at the department of civil engineering of the University of Patras and to further develop and exploit its possibilities in the short- and medium-term future, by profiting from the knowledge and experience existing in other regions of Europe. It ran for four years, starting in February 2008, with the objective to help the structures group to:
1. reinforce its scientific and technical potential and integrate better in the European Research Area (ERA)
2. support and mobilise its human and material resources
3. develop strategic partnerships with well-established excellent research groups in Europe
4. disseminate scientific information and research results, facilitating communication with centres having similar scientific interests and
5. improve its response to socio-economic needs of the region and the country.
In its effort within ACES, as already mentioned, the University of Patras had seven RTD centres as non-contractual networking partners, all among the top in the world in their field. Representatives of the networking partners constituted the international scientific committee of ACES.
The action plan of the project is based on a coherent set of the following measures:
1. enhancement of the human resources of the structures group, via recruitment of experienced researchers, including managers, particularly returning nationals having left the country
2. enhancement of the material resources, through acquisition or upgrading of research equipment for the activities and laboratories of the University of Patras, in order to extend the capacity of the structures lab to complex dynamic testing, establish a fire testing facility at the structural materials lab and enhance the capacity for computational simulation of seismic ground motions
3. exchange of know-how and experience between the research staff of the structures group at the University of Patras and that of the seven partner RTD centres in ACES
4. participation of the research staff of the structures group of the University of Patras to international conferences or short term training events, for knowledge sharing, network building and exposure to an international environment
5. two international workshops at the vicinity of Patras, for knowledge transfer at regional, national and international level, involving both the University of Patras own research staff and invited researchers from other countries, for development of the international training capacity and reputation of the University of Patras
6. increased visibility of the University of Patras and its work via dissemination and promotional activities, including training, diffusion of knowledge through publications, web-based real-time access to laboratory experimentation (tele-presence, tele-observation) etc.
Project results:
Main results
The outcomes of the project fit the special objectives of Regpot support actions, notably the 'Unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions', as specified in the grant agreement for ACES. They comprise the following:
1. Enhancement of human resources through recruiting and integrating experienced researchers, particularly returning nationals. Positions for experienced researchers in structural or earthquake engineering were advertised early on, through the web site of the research office of the University of Patras and by direct e-mail to several thousands of recipients. They were filled at three different stages with three post-doctoral researchers, namely one with a doctorate (2007) from the University of Patras, who acted also as manager of the project; one with a doctorate (2004) of the Politecnico di Milano and 8 years of research experience at the ELSA lab of the JRC (one of the networking RTD partners) and another with a PhD (2009) from SUNY Buffalo (one of the very few top US centres and labs in earthquake engineering). After been integrated in the Structures research team, the first two of the three post-docs split their time and research activities between ACES and two cooperative research or support-and-coordination FP7 projects, which started well after ACES and are joint with some of the ACES networking RTD centres. All three have stayed after the end of ACES and will continue their cooperation in research with the permanent staff of the University of Patras in other RTD projects (national or international). This is quite remarkable at a time when, owing to the severe economic crisis in Greece, so many very promising researchers are leaving the country for positions abroad. During its final phase ACES supported also two doctoral students at the final stage of their experimental research using the equipment acquired and the knowhow gained through ACES.
2. Enhancement of material resources through acquisition or upgrading of research equipment. Three custom-made servohydraulic force actuators were procured by the Structures lab, after two open international calls for tenders: a fully dynamic one, with a force range of +/- 500 kN, a stroke of +/- 250 mm and a service manifold of 1 500 lt/min and two relatively fast ones with capacities of +/- 500 kN, +/- 500 mm and 600 lt/min. They add to the existing five 'static' actuators of the structures lab, allowing it to carry out large-scale dynamic tests with one to three actuators, or pseudodynamic ones with up to eight actuators. This capacity has been successfully used for pseudo-dynamic seismic tests of near-full-scale concrete structures: an asymmetric two-storey building under two-directional earthquake and a four-storey plane frame infilled into an integral concrete wall for the purposes of seismic retrofitting. The latter testing campaign was hybrid (i.e. with the non-linear part of the system, in this case the integral wall, physically tested and the linear one, namely the rest of the frame building been retrofitted, computationally simulated in real-time). The same capacity has also been used in 'fast' hybrid tests of multi-span seismically isolated bridges, with the linear bridge piers and the bridge deck computationally simulated in real-time, while the non-linear and rate-dependent seismic isolation bearings were physically tested. A new four-channel control system was added to an existing four-channel system for the control of dynamic, pseudodynamic or quasi-static tests (including 'hybrid' ones) with the portfolio of the eight force actuators of the structures lab. The upgraded control system is routinely used in all tests of the structures lab. The existing computational capabilities (two nodes - i.e. parallel processors - in a cluster system) were supplemented with a group of 12 more nodes, to allow doing very large simulations of seismic fault rupture and seismic wave propagation in large basins in three dimensions, an area where the structures group excels in the application of the computationally demanding spectral element method. The nucleus of a fire testing facility has being created, around a custom-made vertical laboratory furnace with internal dimensions 3.0 m x 3.0 m x 1.2 m acquired through ACES for fire resistance tests of materials, components or systems under various thermal profiles (from isothermal to temperature gradients) and simulated fire-histories. This took three open international calls for tenders (the first two unsuccessful, the fruitful one at a late stage of the project). The University has made available an isolated building at the periphery of the campus to house the new facility (considered as hazardous). It also funded the construction of the facility's office, the installation of electrical power supply lines and switchboards, headlamps/safety/road lights, smoke extraction roof fans, water supply lines (for fire extinguishing systems), sewage, wireless internet connection and security alarm system, procurement of a three tones capacity forklift and earthworks way landscaping the area around the building to receive paving in the near future. More important, large supplementary funding to the University has been approved by the Region of Western Greece for supplementary equipment for the fire testing facility (the gas supply system and the chimney) and large additional equipment items: a horizontal fire resistance test furnace with internal dimensions 3 m x 4 m x 1.7 m fitted with an additional testing rig to accommodate static loading of the test specimens exerted perpendicularly to fire loading and a 'single burning item'. The additional equipment will complement the vertical fire resistance test furnace into a complete, fully equipped fire test facility, unique in Greece and the surrounding countries. Tenders were expected on 14 May 2012, with the winning bidder bound to deliver within 150 days from the contract signature. It is noteworthy that structural fire design is becoming mandatory and of similar importance as design for mechanical loadings, while being supported by much less knowledge and research results. So, there is an urgent need of testing in Europe to assess the fire performance and resistance of construction materials, components or systems and develop or calibrate rules for their fire-resistant design.
3. Exchange of know-how and experience through close interaction and exchanges with the seven networking RTD partners. The exchanges were effected through short secondments (from few days to few weeks) of two members of the permanent staff, of one post-doc and of one advanced doctoral student of the structures group at the University of Patras, mainly at the ELSA/JRC partner RTD centre of ACES and secondarily at the Tamaris lab at CEA. The main outcome was the transfer of very advanced, cutting edge know-how in pseudo-dynamic and hybrid testing from ELSA (one of the world leaders in these techniques) to the structures lab of the University of Patras. More specific items where know-how was transferred had to do with the hardware of the structural test control system built at ELSA and currently used at the structures lab, the difficulties associated with testing stiff multi-degree-of-freedom systems and the control of the actuators when force is the control variable and the specimen stiffness is very high and troubleshooting of the functioning of the telepresence system at the University of Patras when a large number of network cameras are used. Moreover, the exchanges were effected through few-day visits of key persons of the seven networking RTD partners. At least one such key person from each networking RTD partner made such a visit, often in conjunction with a meeting of the project's international scientific committee, or a project international workshop. A total of 23 person-visits were made, involving 11 different experts from the seven networking RTD partners. During those visits the networking experts held individual technical discussions with the research staff of the University of Patras, exchanged technical know-how and experience on topics of mutual research interest to pave the way for research cooperation in the short-term and gave valuable advice and guidance concerning the direction and course of ACES. They also gave seminars to wider or more restricted audiences. In addition, ad hoc live contacts and exchanges of (on-average two persons of) the University of Patras permanent staff who were active in ACES with (an about equal number of) members of the project's international scientific committee were organised, in the context of a total of at least 26 scientific meetings abroad convened for reasons other than ACES but attended by both. Beyond the very specific and tangible outcomes of the secondments of the University of Patras staff at the ELSA/JRC partner RTD centre concerning advanced, cutting edge know-how in pseudo-dynamic and hybrid testing and the valuable advice and guidance offered concerning the direction and course of the project, the above interactions helped the structures group extend its research activities in other FP7 projects. Notably, the group is a beneficiary (along with some of the networking partners of ACES) in two FP7 earthquake engineering projects that started in 2009; in one of them the University of Patras is the coordinator and the 23 beneficiaries are Europe's major players in seismic engineering. Besides, the ACES coordinator has put together a proposal for an advanced European Research Council (ERC) grant to the 2012 ERC-ADG call; the RTD team of this single beneficiary proposal includes three additional permanent staff of ACES, the three post-docs hired in the framework of ACES. Two members of the ACES international scientific committee and another expert from the ACES networking partner ELSA/JRC are also involved in the proposed project as external advisors. This sort of outcomes are prime examples of the benefits derived from the interactions with the ACES networking RTD partners and serve well the ACES remit and the objectives of the FP7-Regpot programme for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions.
4. Two workshops for knowledge transfer at national and international level. The first workshop was on 'Performance-based earthquake engineering', took place at the western coast island of Corfu from 5 to 7 July 2009, drawing 16 participants from Greece (nine from the University of Patras), 28 from other European countries, 16 from north America and 5 from the Pacific region (Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and China). Foreign participants were among the world's top experts in earthquake engineering. The workshop had four themes, namely ground motions for performance-based earthquake engineering (with emphasis on site-specific ground motions, etc.); methodologies for performance-based seismic design and retrofitting; implementation of performance-based seismic design and retrofitting (including retrofitting techniques and techniques for damage limitation); advanced seismic testing for performance-based earthquake engineering. Most of the Workshop papers were published by Springer after peer-review in a 486 pages, hard-bound volume, as Volume 13: 'Advances in performance-based earthquake engineering' of the Springer series in geotechnical, geologic and earthquake engineering (ISBN 978-90-481-8745-4, see http://www.springer.com/engineering/civil+engineering/book/978-90-481-8745-4). The second workshop was on 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction' and took place in Corfu from 10 to 12 October 2010. It drew 47 participants in total, namely 6 from Greece (all from the University of Patras), 31 from other European countries, 1 from north America (Canada), 1 from Israel and 8 from Asia and the Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, India and Hong Kong). The foreign participants were among the world's top experts in concrete materials and construction. The workshop covered the topics of new materials and construction techniques in concrete structures; new types of high performance concretes; innovations in bridge construction and techniques for retrofitting concrete structures. Most of the Workshop papers were published by Springer after peer-review in a 379 pages, hard-bound volume titled: 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction' (ISBN 978-94-007-1996-5, see http://www.springer.com/engineering/civil+engineering/book/978-94-007-1996-5).
5. Dissemination and promotional activities. Web-based real-time access and tele-observation by and tele-presence of the outside scientific community to experimentation at the structures lab has been established and used in all seismic tests carried out at the lab. This requires special information technology (IT) infrastructure incorporated in the upgraded control software and controllers, using two parallel network structures, namely the 'laboratory network' (inaccessible from the outside for security reasons) and the 'scientific network'. Data produced by the data acquisition system within the 'laboratory network' is time-stamped and synchronised with any other data (video, photos, notes, etc), produced during testing and stored in a network database within the 'laboratory network'. Twelve network video cameras are incorporated in the system. The 'scientific network' incorporates software tools to access in a controlled manner the 'laboratory network' and retrieve generic data (data, metadata, video, photos) for interested users, locally or remotely. Organised access to external users through the web is provided via the server (at telepresenceserver.civil.upatras.gr). To serve the need for better documentation and the provision of the data in organised manner, an in-house built database is used to store the data of each research campaign. Details are given in ACES deliverable D1: 'Web-based access to science and technology (S&T) information, through tele-observation, tele-presence and data repositories', see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/sites/default/files/ACES_D1_Telepresence.pdf. A 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects' was produced, drawing from the rich accumulated knowledge and expertise in Greece on design and construction of bridges in seismic regions. It is a joint effort of University of Patras staff (M.N. Fardis) and reputed bridge designers in the country (V. Kolias, T.B. Panagiotakos, C. Katsaras and T. Psychogios of Denco SA) and includes case studies, examples and applications. An English version came out as ACES deliverable D.2 and later updated and enlarged (303 pages) as part of the SEE report series (Report No. SEE 2012-01, http://www.aces.upatras.gr/userfiles/ACES_Report_SEE%202012-01.pdf). The version in Greek was produced (350 pages) with the title 'Seismic design of concrete bridges to Eurocode 8'. Both versions are publicly accessible via the project's website (at http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191). A University of Patras RTD report series SEE has been established, following a standard format and template. Seven reports have been produced (two of them in both English and Greek), namely: SEE Report 2009-01: 'Deformations of concrete members at yielding and ultimate under monotonic or cyclic loading (including repaired and retrofitted members)', by D.E. Biskinis and M.N. Fardis (76 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/153); SEE Report 2009-02: 'Estimating time scales and length scales in earthquake acceleration records with the extended wavelet transform', by M. Vassiliou and N. Makris (65 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/154); SEE Report 2010-01: 'The Eigenvalues of seismic isolated bridges', by G. Kampas and N. Makris (44 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/180); SEE Report 2011-01: 'Application of EN-Eurocode 8 part one for the seismic design of multistorey concrete buildings', by M.N. Fardis and G. Tsionis. (with both English - 247 pages - and Greek - 226 pages - versions publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/179); SEE Report 2012-01: 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects', by M.N. Fardis, V. Kolias, T.B. Panagiotakos, C. Katsaras and T. Psychogios (with both English - 303 pages - and Greek - 350 pages - versions publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191); SEE Report 2012-02: 'Reinforced concrete (RC) frames infilled into RC walls for seismic retrofitting: Design, experimental behaviour and modelling' by I. Strepelias, M.N. Fardis, X. Palios, S.N. Bousias and D.E. Biskinis (48 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/194); SEE Report 2012-03: 'Hybrid testing of seismically isolated bridges' by A. Tsitos and S.N. Bousias (57 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/195). The English and Greek versions of Report SEE 2011-01 are also used as course material for the over 150 per year undergraduate students in Prof. M.N. Fardis's course 'Design of concrete structures'-CV1534 and the about 30 graduate students in his graduate course 'Seismic design of concrete buildings'-CV1516, including the MSc students of the Erasmus Mundus MSc courses of the masters in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology (MEEES) and EU-NICE, see https://eclass.upatras.gr/modules/document/document.php?course=CIV1534 and https://eclass.upatras.gr/modules/document/document.php?course=CIV1516. For abstracts of the reports refer to http://www.aces.upatras.gr/userfiles/Deliverable_D_9.pdf. A limited number of copies per report (around 50) were printed for selected experts and libraries. The series will continue after the end of the project. Few-day-long training and training material on the EN-structural Eurocodes were offered to practicing engineers in Patras and the very seismic Ionian island of Cephalonia, in collaboration with their professional associations (notably the Technical Chamber of Greece and the Society of Civil Engineers). The training material (including the presentations and the Greek version of ACES report SEE 2011-01) was distributed on compact disc (CD) and posted at the ACES website (see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/Eurocode_seminars). The EN-Eurocodes do apply in Greece as structural design standards since 2011 and will soon be enforced as exclusive structural codes, with withdrawal of the current Greek design codes. With the increased interest of practicing engineers in the EN-Eurocodes after this forthcoming last step, the University of Patras staff will repeat and expand these courses, according to the needs and wishes of the regional engineering community.
Potential impact:
The socio-economic impacts of the ACES project (including dissemination activities) should be viewed in the context of the special objectives of Regpot support actions, notably the 'Unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions'. The order they are listed below is from the wider and more general to the more specific and narrow:
1. western Greece (including some of the Ionian islands) is the most seismic-prone area, not only in Greece but also of the EU. ACES has enhanced the regional capacity to improve earthquake resistance of new structures (by better design and construction practices and improved cost-effectiveness) and to reduce the seismic vulnerability of the existing building stock (through targeted retrofitting projects using cost-effective techniques) via the advanced training of practicing engineers in the region and the improved undergraduate and graduate education offered by the University of Patras in SEE.
2. the complete application of EN-Eurocode 8 part one to the seismic design of a multistorey concrete building in SEE Report 2011-01 (with its English and Greek versions freely downloadable) is a valuable tool for the wider community of Greek or other European professionals who are called to apply EN-Eurocode 8 for the seismic design of buildings. This very specific walk-through application complements other documents of more general nature concerning Eurocode 8.
3. the design guide of bridges with emphasis on seismic aspects and the application of Eurocode 8, produced in English and Greek, is another valuable tool, this time for the select group of structural engineers in Greece and other European countries who design and build bridges in seismic areas. It is a detailed guidance document that captures and presents in a user-friendly and educational way the experience and know-how in design of bridges accumulated in Greece during the recent motorway and railway construction in the rough and mountainous terrain of the country, combining it with the emergence of EN-Eurocode 8 as the first in history European standard for seismic design of bridges. This freely downloadable document fills a gap in the European and Greek technical literature.
4. the fire test facility established through ACES in the framework of the structural materials lab holds great promise for the regional and national RTD, as it is being completed and extended thanks to significant additional financial support from the University of Patras and even more from the Region of western Greece. It will be the only such facility in the country and a greater region in southeastern Europe, opening up new opportunities. Note that structural fire design is becoming mandatory and of similar importance as design for mechanical loadings, while being supported by much less knowledge and research results. So, there is an urgent need for testing in Europe to assess the fire performance and resistance of construction materials, components or systems and develop or calibrate rules for their fire-resistant design. It is thanks to the combination of the new material infrastructures, the existing top-quality research staff, the relevant know-how obtained from the networking RTD centres of ACES and the sustainable partnerships established with them, that this new Facility holds great promise for the region and the country. Its capabilities may soon be utilised in the framework of a proposed ERC advanced grant.
5. the capability established for web-based real-time access, tele-observation and tele-presence to tests carried out at the Structures lab via the server (at telepresenceserver.civil.upatras.gr) opens up its research activities to the outside scientific community. A similar goal is served by the in-house built database storing the data of each research campaign and making them freely available off-line to outside users.
6. the ACES project has secured and enhanced the excellence, competiveness, international standing and internal coherence of the structures group of the University of Patras. Thanks to the enhancement of its human and material resources and the partnership it established with its networking RTD centres of excellence in ACES, it is now integrated better in the ERA. The structures lab in particular is coming into the core of seismic labs in Europe. This is to the benefit of the region, the country and of European SEE at large.
List of websites:
http://www.aces.upatras.gr
Contact details: Michael N. Fardis, Department of civil engineering, University of Patras, P.O. Box 1424, postal code 26504 Patras, Greece
Michael N. Fardis (at fardis@upatras.gr) Dionysis Biskinis (at dbisk@tee.gr) Vassia Vayena (at vayena@upatras.gr).
Since long, construction has been one of the largest sectors in the economy of Greece. Structural and earthquake engineering (SEE) are very important for the European Union's (EU) convergence region of western Greece (capital: Patras, Greece's third city), which has the highest seismicity in the EU and several infrastructure projects ongoing. The civil engineering department of the University of Patras is relatively young; its most internationally known group is in structures, with some top quality faculty and two active research and technological development (RTD) laboratories, in structures and in structural materials. The European Community (EC) supported the structures group to enhance its position and ensure continuity to its up-and-coming generation of junior faculty via the support project 'Advanced centre of excellence in SEE' (ACES) of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), FP7-Regpot-2007-1, for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions. ACES run from 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2012 as a single-beneficiary project, with seven RTD centres as non-contractual networking partners:
1. the Building Research Establishment, United Kingdom (UK), EU's largest fire testing facility
2. the Tamaris Seismic Laboratory in Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique (CEA), France (FR), the top shaking table facility in EU
3. the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA)
4. the European Lab for Structural Assessment (ELSA) at the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC), EU's largest seismic lab
5. the Politecnico di Torino, Italy (IT)
6. the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands (NL) and
7. the Geophysical Laboratory at the Université J. Fourier in Grenoble (FR).
Representatives of these partners form the ACES international scientific committee. In the course of four years ACES enhanced the human and material resources of the structures group, its know-how and international visibility through the following:
1. hiring of three post-doctoral researchers (one with a doctorate from the University of Patras acting as manager, another with a doctorate from the Politecnico di Milano and eight years of RTD experience at ELSA/JRC and a third with a PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo, one of top United States of America (USA) centres in earthquake engineering, all of which continue after the end of ACES
2. three custom-made large capacity, fast ('dynamic') servohydraulic force actuators and four advanced controllers, allowing the structures lab to carry out fast hybrid seismic tests (with the linear part of the structure computationally simulated in real-time and the non-linear and rate-dependent one physically tested)
3. a cluster of 12 nodes (parallel processors) for simulation of seismic fault rupture and wave propagation in three dimensions
4. the nucleus of a fire testing facility around a custom made 3m x 3m x 1.2m vertical furnace for fire resistance testing of materials, components or systems, in a new infrastructure provided by the university, to be soon supplemented (via funds from the region of western Greece) with a gas supply system, a chimney, a 3m x 4m x 1.7m horizontal furnace with a rig for static loading under fire and a 'single burning item'. The complete facility will be unique in Greece and the surrounding countries.
5. an international workshop on 'Performance-based earthquake engineering', with 16 participants from Greece, 28 from the rest of Europe, 16 from north America and 5 from the Pacific region - all among the world's top experts in earthquake engineering, and another on 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction', with 6 participants from Greece, 31 from the rest of Europe, 1 from Canada, 9 from Asia and the Pacific region, all among the world's top experts in concrete. The proceedings of peer-reviewed papers were published by Springer (ISBN 978-90-481-8745-4, ISBN 978-94-007-1996-5).
6. web-based real-time access and tele-presence of the outside scientific community to testing at the structures lab and to an in-house built database for each testing campaign
7. a 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects' in English and Greek, accessible at http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191
8. a University of Patras RTD report series in SEE (SEE), with seven reports produced so far (two of them in English and Greek) accessible through nodes 153, 154, 179, 180, 191, 194, 195 at http://www.aces.upatras.gr
9. few-day-long training and training material on the European standards (EN) structural Eurocodes for practicing engineers in Patras and Cephalonia, in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece and the Society of Civil Engineers (see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/Eurocode_seminars).
Project context and objectives:
Since long, construction has been one of the largest sectors in the economy of Greece. SEE are very important for the EU's convergence region of western Greece (whose capital is Patras, Greece's third city in size), which has the highest seismicity in Europe and has several infrastructure projects ongoing. The civil engineering department of the University of Patras is relatively young, established in 1972. Its most active and internationally known group is that of structures, which grants an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology (MEEES) jointly with the University of Pavia (Italy), the J. Fourier University in Grenoble (France) and the Middle East Technical University (Turkey) and an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in earthquake engineering for the Eurasian university network for international cooperation in earthquakes (EU-NICE, together with Universita di Roma-La Sapienza and the Universities of Chieti-Pescara and Basilicata in Italy and of Aveiro in Portugal). The group has some top quality faculty (most of which have studied and taught at top US universities) and supports two research laboratories: in structures and in structural materials - both best equipped and most active in their field country-wise.
The structures group has made a concerted effort to enhance its position and ensure continuity to its up-and-coming generation of junior faculty, by improving and modernising its laboratories and by networking with top European RTD centres. The EU supported this effort by funding the single-beneficiary support project ACES of the FP7, theme FP7-Regpot-2007-1 for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions. The proposal for ACES shared second place among 23 projects funded by the EC in the first call of FP7-Regpot (in spring 2007).
ACES aims at unlocking, enhancing and developing further the research potential of the structures group and its two laboratories at the department of civil engineering of the University of Patras and to further develop and exploit its possibilities in the short- and medium-term future, by profiting from the knowledge and experience existing in other regions of Europe. It ran for four years, starting in February 2008, with the objective to help the structures group to:
1. reinforce its scientific and technical potential and integrate better in the European Research Area (ERA)
2. support and mobilise its human and material resources
3. develop strategic partnerships with well-established excellent research groups in Europe
4. disseminate scientific information and research results, facilitating communication with centres having similar scientific interests and
5. improve its response to socio-economic needs of the region and the country.
In its effort within ACES, as already mentioned, the University of Patras had seven RTD centres as non-contractual networking partners, all among the top in the world in their field. Representatives of the networking partners constituted the international scientific committee of ACES.
The action plan of the project is based on a coherent set of the following measures:
1. enhancement of the human resources of the structures group, via recruitment of experienced researchers, including managers, particularly returning nationals having left the country
2. enhancement of the material resources, through acquisition or upgrading of research equipment for the activities and laboratories of the University of Patras, in order to extend the capacity of the structures lab to complex dynamic testing, establish a fire testing facility at the structural materials lab and enhance the capacity for computational simulation of seismic ground motions
3. exchange of know-how and experience between the research staff of the structures group at the University of Patras and that of the seven partner RTD centres in ACES
4. participation of the research staff of the structures group of the University of Patras to international conferences or short term training events, for knowledge sharing, network building and exposure to an international environment
5. two international workshops at the vicinity of Patras, for knowledge transfer at regional, national and international level, involving both the University of Patras own research staff and invited researchers from other countries, for development of the international training capacity and reputation of the University of Patras
6. increased visibility of the University of Patras and its work via dissemination and promotional activities, including training, diffusion of knowledge through publications, web-based real-time access to laboratory experimentation (tele-presence, tele-observation) etc.
Project results:
Main results
The outcomes of the project fit the special objectives of Regpot support actions, notably the 'Unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions', as specified in the grant agreement for ACES. They comprise the following:
1. Enhancement of human resources through recruiting and integrating experienced researchers, particularly returning nationals. Positions for experienced researchers in structural or earthquake engineering were advertised early on, through the web site of the research office of the University of Patras and by direct e-mail to several thousands of recipients. They were filled at three different stages with three post-doctoral researchers, namely one with a doctorate (2007) from the University of Patras, who acted also as manager of the project; one with a doctorate (2004) of the Politecnico di Milano and 8 years of research experience at the ELSA lab of the JRC (one of the networking RTD partners) and another with a PhD (2009) from SUNY Buffalo (one of the very few top US centres and labs in earthquake engineering). After been integrated in the Structures research team, the first two of the three post-docs split their time and research activities between ACES and two cooperative research or support-and-coordination FP7 projects, which started well after ACES and are joint with some of the ACES networking RTD centres. All three have stayed after the end of ACES and will continue their cooperation in research with the permanent staff of the University of Patras in other RTD projects (national or international). This is quite remarkable at a time when, owing to the severe economic crisis in Greece, so many very promising researchers are leaving the country for positions abroad. During its final phase ACES supported also two doctoral students at the final stage of their experimental research using the equipment acquired and the knowhow gained through ACES.
2. Enhancement of material resources through acquisition or upgrading of research equipment. Three custom-made servohydraulic force actuators were procured by the Structures lab, after two open international calls for tenders: a fully dynamic one, with a force range of +/- 500 kN, a stroke of +/- 250 mm and a service manifold of 1 500 lt/min and two relatively fast ones with capacities of +/- 500 kN, +/- 500 mm and 600 lt/min. They add to the existing five 'static' actuators of the structures lab, allowing it to carry out large-scale dynamic tests with one to three actuators, or pseudodynamic ones with up to eight actuators. This capacity has been successfully used for pseudo-dynamic seismic tests of near-full-scale concrete structures: an asymmetric two-storey building under two-directional earthquake and a four-storey plane frame infilled into an integral concrete wall for the purposes of seismic retrofitting. The latter testing campaign was hybrid (i.e. with the non-linear part of the system, in this case the integral wall, physically tested and the linear one, namely the rest of the frame building been retrofitted, computationally simulated in real-time). The same capacity has also been used in 'fast' hybrid tests of multi-span seismically isolated bridges, with the linear bridge piers and the bridge deck computationally simulated in real-time, while the non-linear and rate-dependent seismic isolation bearings were physically tested. A new four-channel control system was added to an existing four-channel system for the control of dynamic, pseudodynamic or quasi-static tests (including 'hybrid' ones) with the portfolio of the eight force actuators of the structures lab. The upgraded control system is routinely used in all tests of the structures lab. The existing computational capabilities (two nodes - i.e. parallel processors - in a cluster system) were supplemented with a group of 12 more nodes, to allow doing very large simulations of seismic fault rupture and seismic wave propagation in large basins in three dimensions, an area where the structures group excels in the application of the computationally demanding spectral element method. The nucleus of a fire testing facility has being created, around a custom-made vertical laboratory furnace with internal dimensions 3.0 m x 3.0 m x 1.2 m acquired through ACES for fire resistance tests of materials, components or systems under various thermal profiles (from isothermal to temperature gradients) and simulated fire-histories. This took three open international calls for tenders (the first two unsuccessful, the fruitful one at a late stage of the project). The University has made available an isolated building at the periphery of the campus to house the new facility (considered as hazardous). It also funded the construction of the facility's office, the installation of electrical power supply lines and switchboards, headlamps/safety/road lights, smoke extraction roof fans, water supply lines (for fire extinguishing systems), sewage, wireless internet connection and security alarm system, procurement of a three tones capacity forklift and earthworks way landscaping the area around the building to receive paving in the near future. More important, large supplementary funding to the University has been approved by the Region of Western Greece for supplementary equipment for the fire testing facility (the gas supply system and the chimney) and large additional equipment items: a horizontal fire resistance test furnace with internal dimensions 3 m x 4 m x 1.7 m fitted with an additional testing rig to accommodate static loading of the test specimens exerted perpendicularly to fire loading and a 'single burning item'. The additional equipment will complement the vertical fire resistance test furnace into a complete, fully equipped fire test facility, unique in Greece and the surrounding countries. Tenders were expected on 14 May 2012, with the winning bidder bound to deliver within 150 days from the contract signature. It is noteworthy that structural fire design is becoming mandatory and of similar importance as design for mechanical loadings, while being supported by much less knowledge and research results. So, there is an urgent need of testing in Europe to assess the fire performance and resistance of construction materials, components or systems and develop or calibrate rules for their fire-resistant design.
3. Exchange of know-how and experience through close interaction and exchanges with the seven networking RTD partners. The exchanges were effected through short secondments (from few days to few weeks) of two members of the permanent staff, of one post-doc and of one advanced doctoral student of the structures group at the University of Patras, mainly at the ELSA/JRC partner RTD centre of ACES and secondarily at the Tamaris lab at CEA. The main outcome was the transfer of very advanced, cutting edge know-how in pseudo-dynamic and hybrid testing from ELSA (one of the world leaders in these techniques) to the structures lab of the University of Patras. More specific items where know-how was transferred had to do with the hardware of the structural test control system built at ELSA and currently used at the structures lab, the difficulties associated with testing stiff multi-degree-of-freedom systems and the control of the actuators when force is the control variable and the specimen stiffness is very high and troubleshooting of the functioning of the telepresence system at the University of Patras when a large number of network cameras are used. Moreover, the exchanges were effected through few-day visits of key persons of the seven networking RTD partners. At least one such key person from each networking RTD partner made such a visit, often in conjunction with a meeting of the project's international scientific committee, or a project international workshop. A total of 23 person-visits were made, involving 11 different experts from the seven networking RTD partners. During those visits the networking experts held individual technical discussions with the research staff of the University of Patras, exchanged technical know-how and experience on topics of mutual research interest to pave the way for research cooperation in the short-term and gave valuable advice and guidance concerning the direction and course of ACES. They also gave seminars to wider or more restricted audiences. In addition, ad hoc live contacts and exchanges of (on-average two persons of) the University of Patras permanent staff who were active in ACES with (an about equal number of) members of the project's international scientific committee were organised, in the context of a total of at least 26 scientific meetings abroad convened for reasons other than ACES but attended by both. Beyond the very specific and tangible outcomes of the secondments of the University of Patras staff at the ELSA/JRC partner RTD centre concerning advanced, cutting edge know-how in pseudo-dynamic and hybrid testing and the valuable advice and guidance offered concerning the direction and course of the project, the above interactions helped the structures group extend its research activities in other FP7 projects. Notably, the group is a beneficiary (along with some of the networking partners of ACES) in two FP7 earthquake engineering projects that started in 2009; in one of them the University of Patras is the coordinator and the 23 beneficiaries are Europe's major players in seismic engineering. Besides, the ACES coordinator has put together a proposal for an advanced European Research Council (ERC) grant to the 2012 ERC-ADG call; the RTD team of this single beneficiary proposal includes three additional permanent staff of ACES, the three post-docs hired in the framework of ACES. Two members of the ACES international scientific committee and another expert from the ACES networking partner ELSA/JRC are also involved in the proposed project as external advisors. This sort of outcomes are prime examples of the benefits derived from the interactions with the ACES networking RTD partners and serve well the ACES remit and the objectives of the FP7-Regpot programme for unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions.
4. Two workshops for knowledge transfer at national and international level. The first workshop was on 'Performance-based earthquake engineering', took place at the western coast island of Corfu from 5 to 7 July 2009, drawing 16 participants from Greece (nine from the University of Patras), 28 from other European countries, 16 from north America and 5 from the Pacific region (Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and China). Foreign participants were among the world's top experts in earthquake engineering. The workshop had four themes, namely ground motions for performance-based earthquake engineering (with emphasis on site-specific ground motions, etc.); methodologies for performance-based seismic design and retrofitting; implementation of performance-based seismic design and retrofitting (including retrofitting techniques and techniques for damage limitation); advanced seismic testing for performance-based earthquake engineering. Most of the Workshop papers were published by Springer after peer-review in a 486 pages, hard-bound volume, as Volume 13: 'Advances in performance-based earthquake engineering' of the Springer series in geotechnical, geologic and earthquake engineering (ISBN 978-90-481-8745-4, see http://www.springer.com/engineering/civil+engineering/book/978-90-481-8745-4). The second workshop was on 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction' and took place in Corfu from 10 to 12 October 2010. It drew 47 participants in total, namely 6 from Greece (all from the University of Patras), 31 from other European countries, 1 from north America (Canada), 1 from Israel and 8 from Asia and the Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, India and Hong Kong). The foreign participants were among the world's top experts in concrete materials and construction. The workshop covered the topics of new materials and construction techniques in concrete structures; new types of high performance concretes; innovations in bridge construction and techniques for retrofitting concrete structures. Most of the Workshop papers were published by Springer after peer-review in a 379 pages, hard-bound volume titled: 'Innovative materials and techniques in concrete construction' (ISBN 978-94-007-1996-5, see http://www.springer.com/engineering/civil+engineering/book/978-94-007-1996-5).
5. Dissemination and promotional activities. Web-based real-time access and tele-observation by and tele-presence of the outside scientific community to experimentation at the structures lab has been established and used in all seismic tests carried out at the lab. This requires special information technology (IT) infrastructure incorporated in the upgraded control software and controllers, using two parallel network structures, namely the 'laboratory network' (inaccessible from the outside for security reasons) and the 'scientific network'. Data produced by the data acquisition system within the 'laboratory network' is time-stamped and synchronised with any other data (video, photos, notes, etc), produced during testing and stored in a network database within the 'laboratory network'. Twelve network video cameras are incorporated in the system. The 'scientific network' incorporates software tools to access in a controlled manner the 'laboratory network' and retrieve generic data (data, metadata, video, photos) for interested users, locally or remotely. Organised access to external users through the web is provided via the server (at telepresenceserver.civil.upatras.gr). To serve the need for better documentation and the provision of the data in organised manner, an in-house built database is used to store the data of each research campaign. Details are given in ACES deliverable D1: 'Web-based access to science and technology (S&T) information, through tele-observation, tele-presence and data repositories', see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/sites/default/files/ACES_D1_Telepresence.pdf. A 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects' was produced, drawing from the rich accumulated knowledge and expertise in Greece on design and construction of bridges in seismic regions. It is a joint effort of University of Patras staff (M.N. Fardis) and reputed bridge designers in the country (V. Kolias, T.B. Panagiotakos, C. Katsaras and T. Psychogios of Denco SA) and includes case studies, examples and applications. An English version came out as ACES deliverable D.2 and later updated and enlarged (303 pages) as part of the SEE report series (Report No. SEE 2012-01, http://www.aces.upatras.gr/userfiles/ACES_Report_SEE%202012-01.pdf). The version in Greek was produced (350 pages) with the title 'Seismic design of concrete bridges to Eurocode 8'. Both versions are publicly accessible via the project's website (at http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191). A University of Patras RTD report series SEE has been established, following a standard format and template. Seven reports have been produced (two of them in both English and Greek), namely: SEE Report 2009-01: 'Deformations of concrete members at yielding and ultimate under monotonic or cyclic loading (including repaired and retrofitted members)', by D.E. Biskinis and M.N. Fardis (76 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/153); SEE Report 2009-02: 'Estimating time scales and length scales in earthquake acceleration records with the extended wavelet transform', by M. Vassiliou and N. Makris (65 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/154); SEE Report 2010-01: 'The Eigenvalues of seismic isolated bridges', by G. Kampas and N. Makris (44 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/180); SEE Report 2011-01: 'Application of EN-Eurocode 8 part one for the seismic design of multistorey concrete buildings', by M.N. Fardis and G. Tsionis. (with both English - 247 pages - and Greek - 226 pages - versions publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/179); SEE Report 2012-01: 'Guide for bridge design with emphasis on seismic aspects', by M.N. Fardis, V. Kolias, T.B. Panagiotakos, C. Katsaras and T. Psychogios (with both English - 303 pages - and Greek - 350 pages - versions publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/191); SEE Report 2012-02: 'Reinforced concrete (RC) frames infilled into RC walls for seismic retrofitting: Design, experimental behaviour and modelling' by I. Strepelias, M.N. Fardis, X. Palios, S.N. Bousias and D.E. Biskinis (48 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/194); SEE Report 2012-03: 'Hybrid testing of seismically isolated bridges' by A. Tsitos and S.N. Bousias (57 pages, publicly accessible via the project's website from http://www.aces.upatras.gr/node/195). The English and Greek versions of Report SEE 2011-01 are also used as course material for the over 150 per year undergraduate students in Prof. M.N. Fardis's course 'Design of concrete structures'-CV1534 and the about 30 graduate students in his graduate course 'Seismic design of concrete buildings'-CV1516, including the MSc students of the Erasmus Mundus MSc courses of the masters in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology (MEEES) and EU-NICE, see https://eclass.upatras.gr/modules/document/document.php?course=CIV1534 and https://eclass.upatras.gr/modules/document/document.php?course=CIV1516. For abstracts of the reports refer to http://www.aces.upatras.gr/userfiles/Deliverable_D_9.pdf. A limited number of copies per report (around 50) were printed for selected experts and libraries. The series will continue after the end of the project. Few-day-long training and training material on the EN-structural Eurocodes were offered to practicing engineers in Patras and the very seismic Ionian island of Cephalonia, in collaboration with their professional associations (notably the Technical Chamber of Greece and the Society of Civil Engineers). The training material (including the presentations and the Greek version of ACES report SEE 2011-01) was distributed on compact disc (CD) and posted at the ACES website (see http://www.aces.upatras.gr/Eurocode_seminars). The EN-Eurocodes do apply in Greece as structural design standards since 2011 and will soon be enforced as exclusive structural codes, with withdrawal of the current Greek design codes. With the increased interest of practicing engineers in the EN-Eurocodes after this forthcoming last step, the University of Patras staff will repeat and expand these courses, according to the needs and wishes of the regional engineering community.
Potential impact:
The socio-economic impacts of the ACES project (including dissemination activities) should be viewed in the context of the special objectives of Regpot support actions, notably the 'Unlocking of research potential in the EU's convergence and outermost regions'. The order they are listed below is from the wider and more general to the more specific and narrow:
1. western Greece (including some of the Ionian islands) is the most seismic-prone area, not only in Greece but also of the EU. ACES has enhanced the regional capacity to improve earthquake resistance of new structures (by better design and construction practices and improved cost-effectiveness) and to reduce the seismic vulnerability of the existing building stock (through targeted retrofitting projects using cost-effective techniques) via the advanced training of practicing engineers in the region and the improved undergraduate and graduate education offered by the University of Patras in SEE.
2. the complete application of EN-Eurocode 8 part one to the seismic design of a multistorey concrete building in SEE Report 2011-01 (with its English and Greek versions freely downloadable) is a valuable tool for the wider community of Greek or other European professionals who are called to apply EN-Eurocode 8 for the seismic design of buildings. This very specific walk-through application complements other documents of more general nature concerning Eurocode 8.
3. the design guide of bridges with emphasis on seismic aspects and the application of Eurocode 8, produced in English and Greek, is another valuable tool, this time for the select group of structural engineers in Greece and other European countries who design and build bridges in seismic areas. It is a detailed guidance document that captures and presents in a user-friendly and educational way the experience and know-how in design of bridges accumulated in Greece during the recent motorway and railway construction in the rough and mountainous terrain of the country, combining it with the emergence of EN-Eurocode 8 as the first in history European standard for seismic design of bridges. This freely downloadable document fills a gap in the European and Greek technical literature.
4. the fire test facility established through ACES in the framework of the structural materials lab holds great promise for the regional and national RTD, as it is being completed and extended thanks to significant additional financial support from the University of Patras and even more from the Region of western Greece. It will be the only such facility in the country and a greater region in southeastern Europe, opening up new opportunities. Note that structural fire design is becoming mandatory and of similar importance as design for mechanical loadings, while being supported by much less knowledge and research results. So, there is an urgent need for testing in Europe to assess the fire performance and resistance of construction materials, components or systems and develop or calibrate rules for their fire-resistant design. It is thanks to the combination of the new material infrastructures, the existing top-quality research staff, the relevant know-how obtained from the networking RTD centres of ACES and the sustainable partnerships established with them, that this new Facility holds great promise for the region and the country. Its capabilities may soon be utilised in the framework of a proposed ERC advanced grant.
5. the capability established for web-based real-time access, tele-observation and tele-presence to tests carried out at the Structures lab via the server (at telepresenceserver.civil.upatras.gr) opens up its research activities to the outside scientific community. A similar goal is served by the in-house built database storing the data of each research campaign and making them freely available off-line to outside users.
6. the ACES project has secured and enhanced the excellence, competiveness, international standing and internal coherence of the structures group of the University of Patras. Thanks to the enhancement of its human and material resources and the partnership it established with its networking RTD centres of excellence in ACES, it is now integrated better in the ERA. The structures lab in particular is coming into the core of seismic labs in Europe. This is to the benefit of the region, the country and of European SEE at large.
List of websites:
http://www.aces.upatras.gr
Contact details: Michael N. Fardis, Department of civil engineering, University of Patras, P.O. Box 1424, postal code 26504 Patras, Greece
Michael N. Fardis (at fardis@upatras.gr) Dionysis Biskinis (at dbisk@tee.gr) Vassia Vayena (at vayena@upatras.gr).