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August 2, 2024-GTU Office of Press and Public Relations
Gebze Technical University and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of the Republic of Türkiye collaborate to address a major need in Türkiye in the field of earthquake and structural engineering by launching the National Earthquake and Structural Engineering Laboratory (UDYM). The laboratory is to conduct advanced studies in earthquake engineering research and building safety and contribute significantly to the designing of earthquake-resistant structures, material testing, and structural analyses, playing a crucial role in enhancing our country's earthquake safety.
The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of the Republic of Türkiye (ÇŞİDB) and Gebze Technical University's (GTU) Marmara Disaster-Resilient Structures Application and Research Center (MARTEST) will jointly conduct studies at the laboratory, which will perform material, geotechnical, structural earthquake engineering, and seismic isolation tests. Seismic isolation technologies, increasingly used in countries with high earthquake risk, have also become widespread in Türkiye. The practice of constructing hospitals with seismic isolation has been in place since 2013. The UDYM laboratory will now conduct prototype tests to verify the validity of parameters used in the design phase (effective stiffness, effective damping, friction coefficient, and so on), determine the behavior of isolation unit elements under reversible loads (buckling, stability, energy dissipation capacity), and prevent production differences. Prototype tests are conducted on two samples from each type of isolation unit. Considering the average cost of prototype tests abroad ranges from $25,000 to $50,000 per type, the UDYM laboratory is expected to save the country a significant amount of foreign currency.
The UDYM laboratory will also establish infrastructure to conduct tests and research in the following areas needed by our country:
a. Bridge beams/columns, prefabricated structures, towers, chimneys, silos, tanks, scaled structures, high-rise buildings, dams, historical buildings, coastal-port structures, embedded infrastructures, wind vibration, and similar system tests
b. Seismic dampers, energy transmission connection parts, exterior cladding, scaffolding, and similar element tests
c. Hospital equipment, suspension systems, raised floors, IT equipment, server rooms, cabinets, clean rooms, and similar non-structural element tests
d. Hydrology, hydraulics, coastal-port engineering, and tsunami experiments
e. Material tests
f. Soil and soil structure tests
In addition, the UDYM laboratory will conduct studies to remotely monitor and report structural and non-structural elements against disaster hazards using structural health monitoring methods, develop, and implement risk reduction systems in industrial structures. It is planned to enable all universities and institutions conducting disaster hazard and risk research in Türkiye to use the UDYM laboratory for their studies.
Furthermore, the UDYM laboratory will organize trainings, conferences, workshops, panels, courses, seminars, congresses, and scientific meetings. The financing of the laboratory building is provided by the Directorate of Strategy and Budget of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, and the ÇŞİDB is working on obtaining necessary financing for the laboratory infrastructure system from JICA and World Bank loans. The UDYM laboratory building is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024 and to become operational in 2025.
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