| NSF Org: |
CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 14, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 14, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1732223 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Joy Pauschke
jpauschk@nsf.gov (703)292-7024 CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | June 15, 2017 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2020 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $101,763.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $101,763.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
8 CLARKSON AVE POTSDAM NY US 13676-1401 (315)268-6475 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NY US 13676-1401 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Engineering for Natural Hazard |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will explore the feasibility of Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (RTHS), used for earthquake engineering experimentation, for experimentation for other natural hazards such as extreme wind loadings. RTHS is a cyber-physical systems approach to structural engineering analysis where experimental and numerical components are interfaced to provide the system-level response of a structure that is challenging to test in its entirety. This approach allows complex structural behavior and loading conditions, difficult to model computationally, to be captured experimentally while the remainder of the structure, which can be accurately represented numerically, is simulated to provide increased accuracy and efficiency in the test. To extend RTHS to include aeroelastic testing, aerodynamic RTHS (aeroRTHS) will be explored through tests at the boundary layer wind tunnel (BLWT) at the University of Florida's (UF) NSF-supported Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Experimental Facility (EF). The aeroRTHS framework will facilitate the rapid creation, investigation, and validation of the next generation of mitigation strategies by fully capturing the complex fluid-structure interaction in structures needed to investigate the aeroelastic response from wind hazards. The successful realization of the aeroRTHS framework will contribute to the reliability and resilience of the nation's infrastructure by enabling the investigation of an increased number of windstorm hazard mitigation approaches applied to more realistic situations in a non-destructive, cost-effective manner. A cyber-physical systems workshop will be organized and hosted at the UF NHERI EF, in conjunction with other cyber-physical projects utilizing the EF, to facilitate the use of aeroRTHS throughout the wind and seismic research communities. A report summarizing the workshop will be archived in the NHERI Data Depot (https://www.designsafe-ci.org/). This project will provide advanced training to graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Connecticut and Clarkson University through their involvement in the research and aeroRTHS experimentation at the UF NHERI EF.
The goals of this project are threefold: (i) to explore the feasibility of RTHS to include aerodynamic testing, (ii) to accelerate the adoption of aeroRTHS advanced testing techniques through implementation in the BLWT at the UF NHERI EF, and (iii) to train a broad spectrum of researchers to utilize aeroRTHS for future research efforts. Numerous technical challenges will be addressed in this research to enable RTHS to be beneficial for aerodynamic/aeroelastic experimentation. These challenges include: actuator compensation; stability analysis; and limitations imposed by the size of the computational substructure, the increased time scale of wind tunnel models, and the type and number of sensor measurements. Achieving these three goals will help accelerate the adoption of RTHS for multi-hazard applications, thus broadening the impact of these advanced testing methodologies within the natural hazards research community. Specific guidelines for equipment, software, and methods needed to conduct aeroRTHS tests will be developed and disseminated at the cyber-physical systems workshop and through a report archived in the NHERI Data Depot. These guidelines will be suitable for investigators interested in employing RTHS for wind applications at the UF NHERI EF or at any other wind tunnel facility.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) is an advanced simulation approach where physical and numerical components of a structural system are interfaced in the true real time of the physical component and which combines high-fidelity experimental tests along with cost-efficient computational simulation. This project sought to extend the scope of RTHS from nearly exclusively earthquake engineering applications to include wind engineering with the aim of harnessing the benefits of the traditional approaches of wind tunnel testing of structural models and of computational simulation while simultaneously reducing the challenges of these approaches.
The specific goals of the project were to explore the extension of RTHS to aerodynamic testing; accelerate the adoption of these newly created advanced testing techniques through their implementation at the boundary layer wind tunnel at the University of Florida Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Experimental Facility (UF NHERI EF) and to introduce a broad spectrum of researchers to the potential benefits of aerodynamic Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (aeroRTHS).
The aeroRTHS tests were conducted in the boundary layer wind tunnel at the University of Florida NHERI Experimental Facility. Several research challenges were met to allow for RTHS to be utilized in aerodynamic/aeroelastic applications. These included actuator compensation, pressure measurement compensation, stability and robustness analysis, and limitations imposed by both the size of the computational substructure and also the type and number of input measurements. This project successfully demonstrated to the wind engineering community the ability of aeroRTHS to: (1) capture the effects of aeroelastic wind engineering problems and vibration mitigation devices in aeroelastic wind tunnel tests and (2) capture critical wind speed and fluid-structure interaction phenomenon such as vortex induced vibration.
This research was disseminated through presentations at four workshops. In addition, two full length journal manuscripts are in preparation documenting this research. All of the experimental data has been archived on (https://www.designsafe-ci.org/). Also, to help enable the use of aeroRTHS throughout the wind and seismic communities, a workshop at the UF NHERI EF was held in April of 2019 disseminating the findings of this project along with those of other cyber-physical projects conducted at the UF NHERI EF site. The project also documented guidelines for the equipment, software and methods needed to conduct aeroRTHS tests, suitable for use by investigators interested in employing RTHS for wind applications at the UF NHERI EF, or other wind tunnel facilities. Written documentation of both of these activities is also available on DesignSafe.
Last Modified: 11/25/2020
Modified by: Steve F Wojtkiewicz
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