Natural disasters are truly a tragedy because often times, there’s nothing we can do to avoid them. I grew up and live in an area that’s frequented by tornados, and sees the occasional earthquake. I’ve never been in a tornado, however, I have been on the outside of one twice, barely having missed them each time. It was the scariest thing I had ever experienced, and it’s a massive fear of mine to actually be caught in one next time.
We saw many earthquakes in the media over the last few years, and seeing the aftermath never gets any easier. We saw babies being pulled out of rubble and dust, and we can only hope that it never happens to us. Unfortunately, these types of events are still very unpredictable. Scientists are always looking for, and have found a few, ways to at least better prepare us for them. Here are a few different types of earthquake resistant technology that engineers are putting in newer buildings and skyscrapers:
1. Shock Absorbers
Just like your car absorbs shock in certain situations, a building can too. Shock absorbers reduce the magnitude of the shock waves by turning the energy into heat energy that can be transferred into hydraulic fluid. Physicists often refer to this as damping, making the absorbers sometimes called dampers. So how does this work in a building? Dampers are placed on each level of the building attached to a column or a beam. The dampers have a piston head inside of a cylinder that is filled with silicone oil. When an earthquake happens and shakes the building, the building takes the energy and handles it just like the car. The pistons push against the oil, which transfers the mechanical energy into heat energy.
2. Skyscrapers and Pendulums
Since skyscraper can’t exactly be torn down and rebuilt, engineers came up with a pretty cool trick to help these tall buildings balance out during an earthquake. First, a large mass supported by steel cables is suspended at the top of the skyscraper. Between the mass and building are fluid dampers, and when the building starts to sway with the movement of the earth, the mass acts like a pendulum and sways the opposite direction to stabilize the building. This type of earthquake resistant technology is known as “tune mass dampers” because each pendulum is tuned to fit the structure’s vibrational frequency.
3. Seismic Invisibility Cloak
Of course I had to mention this one. Rayleigh waves are the waves that come from the upper crust of the Earth and create the vertical movement that causes most of the damage during an earthquake. Engineers want to try and interfere with these waves by placing a “cloak” of 100 plastic rings below the foundation of a building. This earthquake resistant technology would make a percentage of the waves “invisible,” therefore taking away some of the shock the building experiences.
Strides are being made with earthquake resistant technology, and many new buildings are equipped with it. The University of Brighton has designed a vibrating barrier (ViBa) to reduce the vibrations caused by the seismic waves. ViBa would be buried in the soil, meaning no building alterations, and is expected to absorb a significant amount of the vibrations. This is just one example of the technologies being developed by creative minds today in an effort to better prepare people in areas often affect by earthquakes.
There are many other technologies being tested to help reduce seismic waves experienced by buildings, and I think the mission of these engineers is noble. Now if they could just invent something that 100% ensures my safety in a tornado, I’ll be one happy camper. Maybe that’’ll be something to look forward to one day!
