Description
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The University of Enna “Kore” proposes a Project of Structural Enhancement for the creation of a Centre for Research and High-Level Training L.E.D.A. (Laboratory of Earthquake engineering and Dynamic Analysis). The users of the research centre will be identifiable not only in the field of the Sicilian territory but also in the whole Mediterranean basin and in Europe. This is mainly due to the small number of research structures on a global scale which can boast of equipment with similar characteristics. The manageability of the project is founded on three factors: the elevated seismic risk of many areas of Mediterranean Italy; the executive planning activities of the Bridge on the Messina Strait; the presence of CIDiS.
The laboratory will be composed of two joint manufacturing bodies. The first will be an industrial warehouse, traversed by an overhead travelling crane of 50 t and will account for the main infrastructure: the vibratory tables, the oleodynamic motors, the strong floor and the strong wall. A second building with two floors will account for the laboratories of Geotechnics and Dynamics of terrain and material testing, the workshops, a conference room, a library, a computer lab, and rooms for visiting students and visiting professors. Both buildings will be endowed with all systems, acting on the elimination of architectural barriers. The seismic mass will be held in the basement to guarantee the isolation of the vibratory tables and the system of pumps necessary for their functioning. The L.E.D.A. project foresees the creation of a system of two vibratory tables, inserted in a platform of about 20 m, inside which they can be positioned freely. On the tables scale models or life-size models can be created and can be qualified as equipment for civil, industrial or military use. The system of control will allow the separate use of the two tables for different investigation campaigns, or rather synchronous or asynchronous joint use for seismic simulation on highly lit structures. A particular characteristic of the system of vibratory tables is that the two tables can be used together to create one table at six degrees of freedom with the dimensions of 10.1 m x 4.1 m. This characteristic would be exclusive in Europe and represent a point of attraction for research and for companies in the sector, with comprehensive elevated re-entry in terms of armature for the industrial fabric of the entire region. The laboratory will be equipped with a foundation plate and contrasting walls to carry out tests on structural components in the static or pseudo-dynamic field. To this aim, oleodynamic motors will be acquired with relevant control systems. Other advanced equipment is constituted by LBCB (Loading and Boundary Condition Boxes), charge nodes constituted by two contrast plates moved through six dynamic motors capable of transmitting six actions, or rather six independent movements, to the structures subject to testing. The endowment of the Laboratory of Materials and Structures will be completed by a 6000 kN press and a universal 60 kN machine which can operate both by charge control and movement control. Two control rooms will be present as well as various interconnected results acquisition systems. The Geotechnical laboratory will have a system for tri-axial testing by controlled stress path, machines for the dynamic characterisation of terrain through resonant column tests, systems for the mechanical characterisation of rocks and an ultrasonic measurement system for P and S speed. The research centre will also be provided with a series of technological systems and a photovoltaic system whose maximum power is estimated to be equal to 162 kW.
Training project
In the NOP for R&C Programme 2007-2013 the objectives of the programme must agree, jointly with the public initiatives for the re-launching of productive development, to support excellence in Italian research in the European context. So that “knowledge” assumes a strategic role in the re-launching of the competitive development of the country, it is necessary to act at the same time on education, base research and applied research, technological transfer, and evaluation of intellectual property. In this context, Governance of development processes of technological innovation and research becomes fundamental. The training project “K.I.S.E.D.A. – Kore International School of Earthquake engineering and Dynamic Analysis” focuses on the design of new managerial profiles of applied research and the training of professional figures highly specialised in the planning and seismic preparation of structures and the analysis and control of vibrations (topics strongly linked and integrated with the research activities foreseen in the project of structural enhancement L.E.D.A.). With a guarantee of complementation among research, high-level training and innovation (“Knowledge Triangle”), five International Masters and a Research Doctorate are envisaged.
MASTER A - Profile A.1 - International Master in "R&D Project Management" for the seismic engineering and experimental dynamics sector: has the aim of developing specialist training courses in the sector of Project Management of research structures and advanced experimentation of the role of leadership in the conception, planning and development of advanced experimental research programmes.
MASTER A - Profile A.2 - International Master in "Marketing Management" for the seismic engineering and experimental dynamics sector: has the aim of exploring technical disciplines for the training of professional figures highly qualified in Marketing Management for the development of commercial activities of high technological content in the field of seismic engineering and experimental dynamics.
MASTER B - Profile B.1 - International Master in Seismic Engineering: “anti-seismic planning of sustainable constructions": has the aim of exploring technical disciplines and advanced technologies which improve the performance and sustainability of infrastructure in terms of durability, ease of construction and capacity to support conditions of seismic charge, according to the approaches outlined in the most recent national and international regulations.
MASTER B - Profile B.2 - International Master in Seismic Engineering: “mitigation of seismic risk of existing building/patrimony": poses the objective of forming specialists for leadership roles in the study of sub-seismic behaviour of existing structures, evaluation of the vulnerability which can be deduced from it, and the planning of suitable intervention for improvement and seismic preparation both with traditional techniques and with innovative techniques.
MASTER C - International Master in “Experimental Dynamics”: has the aim of exploring technical disciplines and advanced technologies for the study of dynamic solicitations induced by earthquakes on the structures and vibrations on mechanical equipment.
RESEARCH DOCTORATE in Seismic Engineering and Experimental Dynamics: focuses on the development of subjects of innovative analysis, with the objective of constructing a cultural and scientific platform of such dimensions as to allow increased visibility and attractiveness for the training project K.I.S.E.D.A., both with regard to public, private, national and international research institutes, and with regard to the professional, industrial and economic realities of the territory.
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