Project description
Building back better after earthquakes
Every year, earthquakes claim thousands of lives and leave behind billions in damage. In Europe alone, the toll averages 1 000 deaths and EUR 8.5 billion annually. The problem? Buildings are designed to stay standing, but not without suffering damage so extensively that repairs often become impossible. After New Zealand’s 2011 Christchurch quake, 70 % of the city centre had to be demolished. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GoodVibes project is using vibrators to regulate friction dampers in timber buildings. This vibration-assisted system absorbs seismic energy and recentres buildings after a quake. This simple, low-cost, and sustainable system offers a smarter, greener way to ensure structures survive earthquakes.
Objective
On average, earthquakes in Europe claim over 1,000 lives and cost 8.5 billion EUR in damages every year. Globally, these numbers rise to 36,000 lives and 35 billion EUR. The high costs are related to the fact that buildings are currently designed to avoid collapse in earthquakes but sustain extensive damage in the process. The widespread damage is often difficult to repair, making demolition the more economical option. This was the case in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand that wiped out 70% of the city-center. Thus, there is an urgent need for more practical and accessible solutions that prevent permanent damage to buildings and make repairs easier after earthquakes. This project proposes a solution for earthquake-proof buildings by developing a novel method of using vibrators to regulate ordinary friction dampers in buildings. The proposed solution could absorb the seismic energy during earthquakes, and allow buildings to re-center after earthquakes, thereby helping to save lives, reduce damage to buildings and the cost of repairs. Moreover, the proposed technology is cheap, efficient, and easy to implement as compared to state-of-the-art self-centering solutions. The project adopts an interdisciplinary (structural and mechanical engineering) and inter-sector (academia and industry) approach to develop the vibration-assisted friction damper, with an application for timber buildings. The methodology involves theoretical and computational modelling of the proposed damper, followed by a search for the optimal damper configuration in timber buildings via earthquake simulations, and finally an experimental test to validate the models developed and prove the concept of a vibration-assisted friction damper. The results of this project offer a solution to improve societal resilience against earthquake hazards and promote timber buildings for a more sustainable future.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2628 CN Delft
Netherlands
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