Next year, European researchers plan to conclude a series of tests to integrate new technologies for rescuing survivors trapped in collapsed buildings. One test is on disproportionate-collapse simulation software created by Durham, N.C.-based structural engineering firm Applied Science International.
At a controlled demolition in Lyon, France, earlier this year, engineers used ASI’s Extreme Loading for Structures software to create a model in the field that closely predicted the shape of a collapse to come. Such a tool could help first responders to find survivors trapped in rubble. The final tests aim to determine the viability of the application.