This summer the largest full-scale earthquake test ever attempted will take place outside of Kobe, Japan. The project, known as the NEESWood Capstone Tests, is led by Colorado State University in close technical collaboration with Simpson Strong-Tie and features a full-scale, seven-story, mixed-use condominium tower. The 40 foot by 60 foot building will be subjected to Japan’s massive E-Defense shake table, the largest in the world.

The Hyogo Earthquake Engineering Research Center’s shake table measures approximately 65 feet long by 49 feet wide and can support building experiments weighing up to 2.5 million pounds.

The Hyogo Earthquake Engineering Research Center, nicknamed "E-Defense," is a full-scale, 3D earthquake testing facility located in Miki City, Japan, just north of Kobe. The facility opened in 2005, ten years after the destructive Kobe earthquake, to test structures against high-intensity earthquakes. The center’s shake table, which measures approximately 65 feet long by 49 feet wide, can support building experiments weighing up to 2.5 million pounds. The project’s condominium tower weighs nearly a million pounds and features 23 one- and two-bedroom living units and space to accommodate two retail shops.

Nicknamed "E-Defense" the full-scale, 3D earthquake testing facility is located in Miki City, Japan, just north of Kobe.

In June and July 2009, the seven-story building will be subjected to a series of seismic tests of varying intensity. The NEESWood Capstone Tests are the culmination of five universities and a four-year $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new design approach for taller wood-frame buildings in urban, earthquake-prone areas. Co-investigators funded by the NSF NEESWood grant include CSU, Texas A&M University, SUNY-Buffalo, RPI, and University of Delaware.

NSF estimates more than 75 million U.S. citizens in 39 states live in areas at risk for earthquake

In June and July 2009, the seven-story building will be subjected to a series of seismic tests of varying intensity.

devastation. In California alone, earthquake damage is expected to exceed $30 billion in the next 10 years.

Building designers at Texas A&M, CSU, and Simpson Strong-Tie hope the Capstone Tests will help promote the use of a new performance-based seismic design philosophy as the new standard for earthquake-resistant engineering in mid-rise wood buildings.

"The test has two major objectives: to help verify a new performance-based seismic design approach developed within the project and to understand the behavior of existing four- and five-story light-frame wood buildings in the western U.S," said John van de Lindt, Colorado State civil engineering professor and principal investigator for the project.

Construction of the tower began in late February and will take four full-time carpenters four months to complete. Honolulu-based Maui Homes USA is the contractor for the project and is supported by key technical collaborators at the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, FPInnovations Forintek Division in Canada, and Japan’s National Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention.

The building design includes steel special moment frames on the first floor with six stories of wood above. The wood-framed structure will be held together using continuous tie-down systems, which provide uplift and overturning restraint at each floor. The first test is scheduled to occur in late June with the final and strongest test taking place on July 17. The tests will range from fairly frequent seismic events, those expected every 70 years or so, to more powerful earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 6.7 to 7.3, which occur every 500 to 2,500 years.

"In the engineering and scientific community, we don’t have quantitative data on how buildings of this size actually perform in earthquakes of this magnitude," said Steve Pryor, S.E., building systems research and development manager for Simpson Strong-Tie and consulting engineer for the project. "We know these structures need a more robust design methodology. This testing will help us determine just how much strength and flexibility is needed, and where to put it."

According to van de Lindt, "Existing buildings of this size have been designed by extrapolating the basis of current codified design, which was not likely the intent. These buildings behave quite differently than two-story houses. We have an opportunity to test not only a full-scale structure, but a full-size building."

The testing comes at a good time with the recent earthquake devastation and continuing pressure for taller wood structures in urban areas. Earthquakes in Japan (1995), Turkey (1999), and China (2008) resulted in more than 95,000 deaths. In California, the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes, considered moderate events, caused more than $25 billion in property damage.

"We want to be better equipped when the next major earthquake strikes," said Pryor. "We know just expanding on typical one- and two-story design practices isn’t the answer. We need solutions that will keep structures intact and protect lives."

To learn more about the test and project collaborators, visit http://www.engr.colostate.edu/NEESWood/capstone.shtml and www.strongtie.com/capstonetest.To view a video clip of Japan’s E-Defense table where the test will occur, go to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7S9h_9bBPQ.

Shelby Lentz is the marketing communications manager for Simpson Strong-Tie. She can be reached at 925-560-9068 or slentz@strongtie.com.