Structural engineering

News and Updates

A fire test of an office building floor replica occurring in a fireproof compartment.

How Fire Causes Office-Building Floors to Collapse

March 24, 2020

Engineers and technicians at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) spent months meticulously recreating the long concrete floors supported

Cornell University engineers testing a novel earthquake-resilient pipeline

NIST Funds 12 Projects to Make Communities More Resilient to Disasters

August 2, 2017

Using biological materials as flame retardants, defining the characteristics of soil liquefaction during earthquakes and collecting disaster data with aerial

‘Built Environment’ Portal Now Part of Climate Resilience Toolkit

October 3, 2016

As part of the ongoing collaborative federal effort to strengthen the resilience of the nation’s cities, towns and other inhabited areas, the Community

Get Ahold of This: NIST to Demonstrate Tests of Grasping by Robot Hands

May 19, 2015

The act of grasping and shaking hands is a defining human ritual, with the grip intimating traits of each person involved. But what about our android

Projects and Programs

A stainless steel micro tensile specimen in a silicon frame.

Microsystems for Harsh Environment Testing

Our goal is to develop and demonstrate a MEMS-based methodology for evaluating time-dependent mechanical properties of materials that undergo exposure to

Charpy Machine Verification Program

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CUSTOMERS OF THE CHARPY MACHINE VERIFICATION PROGRAM * UPDATE August 24, 2020 * The NIST Boulder campus has reopened in July 2020 on a

NEHRP Extramural Research

Research performed by the EL Earthquake Engineering Group (2EG) consists of a combination of in-house and extramural research. Policy related work is awarded to

Physical Infrastructure: Connections

Using a complementary approach of experimental measurements and detailed finite element analysis, we will develop more realistic yet computationally efficient

Publications

Application of ASCE 41 to a two-story CFS building

October 23, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Zhidong Zhang, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this paper is to summarize the evaluation results from applying the updated performance-based seismic design provisions: ASCE 41-17, on a cold

Seismic Evaluation of a 2-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building using ASCE 41-17

September 29, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Ivana Olivares, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this report is to assess the adequacy of new provisions in ASCE 41 for seismic assessment of cold-formed steel framed buildings. A two-story

DEVELOPMENT OF A DATABASE OF EXPERIMENTAL TESTS ON FRP RETROFITTED REINFORCED CONCRETE SHEAR WALLS

September 15, 2020

Author(s)

Jazalyn D. Dukes, Siamak Sattar

Codes and standards developing organizations, such as American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Concrete Institute (ACI), rely on experimental

Uncertainty in the Seismic Response of Structural Components due to Material Variability

September 15, 2020

Author(s)

Christopher L. Segura, Siamak Sattar

Inherent variability in the mechanical properties of reinforcing steel and concrete introduces uncertainty into the seismic assessment of reinforced concrete