Welcome to nees@UCLA

What is nees@UCLA?

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has established the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) as a national, networked collaboratory of geographically-distributed, shared-use experimental research equipment sites. nees@UCLA is an equipment site specializing in field testing and monitoring of structural performance.

As a part of this program, the UCLA NEES program has developed a state-of-the-art mobile field laboratory to enable detailed, seismic performance characterization of full-scale structural and foundation systems. Through use of this equipment, it is possible to develop an inventory of field test results that provide significant new insights into the nonlinear response of full-scale structural systems, as well as soil structure interaction effects.

Recent Events

New Zealand

Bob Nigbor, co-PI of NEES@UCLA, traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand in July 2011 to install high-resolution monitoring systems in 2 buildings to record both ambient vibrations and aftershock response. Phase II of the project followed in September 2011, when NEES@UCLA installed a high-resolution monitoring on the Christchurch Women's Hospital and an adjacent building to do remote monitoring for at least 4 months. In the first three months we have recorded more than 200 aftershocks!

Levee

Could California's levees fail? In August 2011,NEES@UCLA shook a model levee in the Sacramento Delta to find out. See Projects Page for details.

EERI

nees@UCLA showcased the mobile earthquake engineering laboratory in a field trip of the 2011 EERI Annual Meeting in La Jolla, CA. More information can be found here.

E-Defense

nees@UCLA provided staff and instrumentation for large-scale destructive testing of a reinforced concrete structure on the E-Defense shake table in Japan.

NEESR PilEs Project

nees@UCLA provided our linear shaker, accelerometers and data acquisition for the NEESR PilEs Project in Miami, OK.

NEESR PilEs Payload Project

nees@UCLA provided data acquisition and sensors during the payload portion of the NEESR PilEs Project in Miami, OK.

Istanbul, Turkey

nees@UCLA took ambient measurements of a building in Istanbul, Turkey. We will be returning in the fall after seismic retrofitting is completed to do more testing.

LAX Theme Building

nees@UCLA shook the LAX Theme Building as part of a media event on May 4, 2010. Here are some links:
Daily Breeze and Press-Telegram
Daily Bruin
CBS local channel 2
KPCC
UCLA Today

Santiago, Chile

On March 13 2010, nees@UCLA dispatched a team to Santiago, Chile for post-earthquake data reconnaissance, taking with them instrumentation for structural monitoring. For more information, here are some links:
flyer
presentation
instrumentation

What's New?

NEES@UCLA involved in upcoming testing at UCSD: Full-Scale Structural and Nonstructural Building System Performance during Earthquakes & Post-Earthquake Fire. See Project Page for details.
Bob Nigbor, co-PI of NEES@UCLA, traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand in July 2011 to install high-resolution monitoring systems in 2 damaged RC buildings to monitor building response to aftershocks. Data were retrieved, and instruments moved to a new building in September, 2011, with over 30 aftershocks recorded in addition to extensive ambient vibration data.
nees@UCLA hosted our annual summer internship program from June through August 2011. The twelve participating students came from four different programs: NEES Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, UCLA SEAS High School Summer Research Program, Summer@CENS Undergraduate Scholars Program, and the UCLA LEADS Program. The NEES@UCLA Summer Internship Program ending in August 2011 had 12 student interns assisting with our research activities. The research teams were a combination of high school students and undergraduates. Poster sessions capped off this summer research experience. To apply for the 2012 NEESreu Summer Intern Program, click here.
In March 2011, nees@UCLA finished destructive testing of another abutment wall/backfill for Caltrans.
nees@UCLA showcased the mobile earthquake engineering laboratory in a field trip of the 2011 EERI Annual Meeting in La Jolla, CA on February 12, 2011.
Bob Nigbor, co-PI and Site Operations Manager made a presentation to the EERI Strong Motions Committee on February 11, 2011. The presentation covered the recent nees@UCLA Chile earthquake efforts. The presentation given can be viewed here.
In December 2010, nees@UCLA provided staff and instrumentation for large-scale destructive testing of a reinforced concrete structure on the E-Defense shake table near Kobe, Japan. Click here for more information.
nees@UCLA was recently given an interesting historical document that describes very early (mid-20th century) work on vibration testing and earthquake monitoring. The document is "Earthquake Investigations in the Western United States 1931-1964", Publication 41-2 of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. We have provided it on our website as part of our nees@UCLA training information, as it describes perhaps the earliest building shakers. It should also be of broad interest to students and researchers in Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. We are grateful to Kinemetrics for the donation of this very useful and rare document.
nees@UCLA recently completed a successful NEESR and payload project in Oklahoma.

What's Inside

Important Documents