Towards a european high capacity facility for advanced seismic testing

Abstract

The activities carried out in the framework of the FP7 project EFAST (design study of a European Facility for Advanced Seismic Testing) are highlighted. The objective is to determine the general characteristics of a new European world class facility for seismic testing. To this end, the demands for testing necessary to support the modern earthquake engineering research have been investigated and compared to the current capabilities of laboratories in Europe. The performance objectives and the requirements of the facility are therefore established. On the basis of the needs assessment and taking into account the technological advances in experimental techniques and equipment (hardware and software) for seismic testing, a modern facility for experimental seismic research should comprise, mainly, an array of high performance shaking tables and a large reaction structure where both traditional (pseudo-static/dynamic) and innovative testing techniques (e.g. real-time hybrid testing) can be applied and combined. A tentative layout of the facility is proposed and issues related to its optimal utilization are discussed. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.