E-Defense shake table: accomplishments and future prospects

Abstract: E-Defense, NIED’s communal-use testing facility with a 300 square meter (20m x 15m) 6-DOF shake table, has completed 127 experiments, mainly on full-scale structures, since its operation started in 2005. These experiments were conducted to observe the failure process of structures to clarify collapse mechanisms, evaluate current or new technologies, and assess damage to the functionality of structures. As many of their datasets are accessible to those involved in disaster risk reduction, it is expected that they will be used as evidence-based results not only in the research projects of the experiments but also in other studies. While these datasets are currently provided as is via a website, their wider use not limited to earthquake hazards, such as the development of numerical simulation techniques and the consideration of various hazard issues, requires additional fundamental materials to develop a common understanding of the experiment, such as a data paper describing the experiment. In addition, to continue to obtain valuable data from future E-Defense experiments, it could be effective to find global ideas through discussions among various researchers and engineers, establish research infrastructure networks including E-Defense to promote collaborative research and development, and co-create the evidence-based knowledge on disaster risk reduction are very valuable. The second presenter will introduce several international joint project collaborations that have taken place at E-Defense on reinforced concrete, steel and wood structures. The third presenter will then discus how digital construction technology can be benefited by data acquired in large-scale testing.

About the speakers

Dr. Kentaro Tabata is currently the Deputy Director in the Earthquake Engineering Mitigation Research Division, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) in Japan.

Professor Nagae worked in NIED (E-Defense, Senior Researcher) from 2006 to 2014 and in Nagoya University from 2014 to 2023. He has continued a series of large-scale tests on RC, Steel and Wood structures in Nagoya University after his E-Defense period. Sub-structure representations regarding high-rise building responses were developed in his career.

Professor Asai received his Ph.D in 2017. he worked at Nagoya University as an Assistant Professor for five years, focusing on seismic performance evaluation of RC structures based on large-scale tests and so on. Last year, he moved to the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo as an Associate Professor. He is currently working on projects to develop a comprehensive seismic assessment system based on building information modeling and finite element analysis.