Recent shake-table tests on a wood-framed house with a newly developed low-cost structural system for seismic resistance confirmed researchers' predictions of drastically reduced earthquake damage. The goal of the study, considered a big step toward more quake-resilient single-family housing, is to "dramatically improve" the seismic performance of light-frame residential construction while keeping a lid on costs.
The system relies on base isolation under a strong and stiff unibody frame. "Seismic isolation has been cost- prohibitive for houses," says Gregory Deierlein, a professor of civil engineering at Stanford University and one of three principal investigators in the three-year research program. "The key is to make it inexpensive," says Deierlein, whose co-principal investigators are Stanford engineering professor Eduardo Miranda and California State University, Sacramento, professor Benjamin Fell.