CE-UY 3123 Dynamics of Extreme Events

3 Credits

This course is an introduction to extreme natural events and their impact on the built environment and communities. Students will be introduced to the methods used for anticipating extreme natural events and the design parameters for resilient infrastructure design. The scenarios covered include earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and fire. Topics introduced include 1) basic concepts of seismicity, earthquake ground motion, and response of structures to earthquake excitation, 2) hurricanes, preparedness, and design principles or structures subject to strong winds and coastal surges, 3) coastal and river flooding and impact on critical infrastructure systems. The fundamental concepts covered include a) methods for longterm event prediction and short term warning systems, b) estimation of acceptable risk used in limit state design codes, including loading and zoning, c) physical resilience and robustness. Methods used include mapping and analysis of global data resources including sensor networks and geophysical models for event prediction, risk analysis, analytical solutions and numerical simulation to quantify and understand the response of structural systems subject to the loading conditions in the scenarios above.

Prerequisite(s): CE-UY 2133 or equivalent with a grade of C or better.
Weekly Lecture Hours: 3