Center for Earthquake Engineering Simulation

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Center for Earthquake Engineering Simulation

Director:   Ricardo Dobry

Associate Director: Tarek Abdoun

Associate Director for Training and Outreach: Thomas Zimmie

The Center for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (CEES) is part of NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) and NSF initiative aimed at revolutionizing earthquake engineering research in the United States. NEES has merged experimental laboratory and field research with analytical simulations at a number of university facilities, electronically linking them into a national Collaboratory. Today, it includes 14 experimental sites or “nodes” plus the NEEScomm that is located at Purdue University. NEES provides open access to the 14 sites by allocating research time at the facilities while leading training, education, and outreach activities and establishing ties with U.S. and international partners. Rensselaer is a node in NEES and provides access to the campus-based 150-g ton geotechnical centrifuge facility.  CEES is a multi-disciplinary research center committed to providing researchers a state-of-the-art facility to conduct analytical, experimental, analytical-experimental, and multi-disciplinary research. The facility is a multi-hazard mitigation site with a capability to support research for mitigation of other natural hazards. The facility is now a home to tele-participation tools, including state-of-the-art telecontrol and teleconference rooms. The CEES center is also home to a 2-directional earthquake simulator, 2-degrees of freedom and 4-degrees of freedom in-flight robots and state-of-the-art Data Acquisition (DAQ) software.

As part of a 10-year initiative that started in October of 2004, NEES facilities will be used in innovative earthquake research, including use of CEES by Rensselaer faculty and outside researchers working on campus, or via tele-participation tools. Since 2004, NEES@RPI has participated in over 24 major research projects for both NEES and industrial users, which focus on:

• The seismic response of pile foundations to liquefaction,
• The effect of blasting on tunnels and earth embankments,
• The centrifuge modeling of levees, retaining walls, tailings dams, slopes, and offshore structures,
• The development of advanced sensors and tools for centrifuge and existing in-flight robots,
• The numerical modeling and analysis of buildings subjected to seismic loads, and
•  Field monitoring and assessing of levee and flood-control infrastructure system.

 Affiliated Faculty: T. Abdoun, R. Dobry, M. O’Rourke, I. Sasanakul, M. Symans, B. Yazici, M. Zeghal, T. Zimmie, V. Bennett

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