Earthquake Engineering Research Institute University of Notre Dame

Buildings Dams Tunnels Bridges Domes

San Andreas Fault California

Thrust Fault Oblique Fault Normal Fault Strike Fault

BODY WAVES SURFACE WAVES

US Risk Map: Earthquakes 0 None 1 Little 2 Some Large New Madrid Fault

How can we protect the lives of those in danger? We must design buildings that can survive earthquakes!

What are buildings made of?

 Companies consisting of 3 or 4 partners  Company name  Need teamwork and planning  Partner tasks  Building owner  Architect  Engineer  Builder

 Use LEGO blocks to make masonry buildings  Base must be no bigger than 4 by 8 Lego dots  Must be at least 30 stories high Testing Direction PLAN VIEW

What goes into designing our building?  Owner pays for the building  wants to make money  must have lots of rooms, especially rooms with windows, and be very tall

What goes into designing our building?  Architect designs the building to meet the owner’s needs and to be beautiful

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Pantheon, Rome St. Paul’s Cathedral, London San Pietro Citta’ del Vaticano, Rome What makes a beautiful building?

What goes into designing our building?  Engineers help to design the building to make sure it does not collapse under the forces of nature

Hints: Ground Floors Should Be Sturdy

Hints: Avoid the weak links!

Hints: Don’t be top heavy!

Construction  The builder is responsible for constructing the building based on the final design.  Hint: Be sure the blocks are firmly pressed together…connections are important!

Example Buildings

What kind of buildings are made of masonry? Are all the world’s buildings made of masonry?

History of the Skyscraper  Ancient structures were masonry designs in which the strength comes from brick walls  Towers like the Washington Monument (1884) could reach 555 feet  Human Pyramid: Too heavy!

History of the Skyscraper  Important inventions at the end of the 1900’s  Steel!  Electricity  ELEVATORS!  1 st skyscraper used a steel skeleton (frame) instead of brick walls: Reliance Building (1891) in Chicago

History of the Skyscraper  Today’s skyscraper’s have “skeletons” made of steel which carries all the weight  This had allowed us to to build exciting structures and allowed us to reach new heights Trans America Building San Francisco (1972) 853 ft

What does a steel frame building look like?

Beams

Columns

Frame

Skin, glass (cladding)

Empire State Building Transamerica Building Sears Tower World Trade Center First National Bank Building Marina City John Hancock Building

 Only two teams  Represents steel frame structures  Create a beautiful, landmark structure  Maximize rent by having more stories and larger useable space to make the owner happy

 Base must be no bigger than 15x30 cm (1 red x 2 red)  Must be able to connect to a K’nex board  Must be at least 2 m high  The height of a useable floor is at least 7.5 cm (blue)

Do masonry and steel frame buildings behave differently under earthquakes?

Steel Buildings Dance!  These building skeletons are flexible, they can bend!

Lego Building Shake Table Controller

Testing Day  3 minute company presentations  Awards will be presented!  Final project report from each company  Good Luck!

National Science Foundation Scientists and Engineers in the Schools Program