Iranian Researchers Design Brackets for Increasing Temporary Resistance of Buildings in Quake Aftershocks

A team of IIEES researchers designed brackets that can be used to temporarily stabilize the structures that had been damaged during the earthquake until they can be rebuilt in due time later.

“When earthquakes occur, especially in large cities where there are many buildings, a large number of the building which have unstable conditions, collapse. A lot of these structures must be completely destroyed to be constructed again. But some of structures can be retrofitted with simple measures,” Dr. Fariborz Nateghi Elahi, the project manager and professor at the IIEES told Iranian media.

“In the aftermath of quakes, it is not possible to make a decision about the health of a number of buildings in the short term, but considering that possible aftershocks could damage these unfallen structures, it may become a potential danger for people. This is the point where we have worked on,” he continued,

 “Accordingly, we started research at the IIEES with the goal of retrofitting these structures in the large cities. Certainly,  in case of a large earthquake in Tehran , a large number of buildings will be damaged but most of them will not collapse, so it is necessary to use simple and inexpensive methods to achieve temporary stability of the earthquake-hitten structures to make sure that they will not fall in possible aftershocks,” Nateghi Elahi went on to say.

According to him, their designed and manufactured brackets (dampers) make it possible to temporarily improve the lifespan of infrastructures such as hospitals and telecommunications centers that are damaged in the earthquake, so that they can stand for longer time and resist aftershocks until theyt are fully rebuilt.

The researcher said that their fortifying damper-like joints are made of steel and metal, adding that the data-x-items absorb the pressure of aftershocks and assist the structure to withstand the pressures.

He said that they have finished studies on the brackets which are now in the trial stage, adding, the results have been considerable so far.

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