You are here

Structural Collapse Prediction Technology

Description:

Numerous first responders have been killed in the line of duty as a result of structural collapse, from the 343 firefighters who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center collapse to the firefighters and other first responders, and civilians who are killed or injured performing their regular duties from collapsing structures, including incidents involving single family dwellings.


There is a need for accurate and easily deployable technology to predict structural collapse to avoid or reduce these incidents. The development of a small vibration sensing technology including development of hardware with wireless solid-state electronic sensors and base display units, as well as the interpretation algorithm necessary to translate the vibration data from the sensor into a “green/yellow/red” tactical decision aid to alert incident commanders of a pending collapse is a high priority technology.


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Fire Administration (USFA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been investigating the use of new measurement technologies in the fire environment for the prediction of structural collapse. This includes the use of thermal imaging technology to measure temperature, lasers to measure building displacement, and vibration sensors to measure changes in the frequency of the building structure during the fire. Full-scale fire experiments have been conducted on a number of structures, including “traditional wood frame,” engineered wood truss, and lightweight steel truss construction. The results of these experiments indicate that the vibration-sensing technique has the best potential for reliable prediction of structural collapse. As a result, this project is focused on this technology. While vibration sensing technology has the best potential for reliable prediction of structural collapse, devices used in initial collapse prediction experiments are very large, cumbersome, and rudimentary. Therefore, there is a need to support the development of a smaller advanced prototype. 

US Flag An Official Website of the United States Government