August 1, 2013

Researchers hope man-made quakes lead to sturdier, safer buildings



Shake table tests structural stability of cold-formed steel building

Earthquakes never occur when you need one, so a team led by Johns Hopkins structural engineers is shaking up a building themselves in the name of science and safety.

Using massive moving platforms and an array of sensors and cameras, the researchers are trying to find out how well a two-story building made of cold-formed steel can stand up to a lab-generated Southern California quake.