The development of Mobile Filed Laboratory and hybrid testing facility at NZNEES@Auckland

Since the establishment of the NZNEES@Auckland node in 2006, developments have transformed the Auckland node from an end user portal to a research contributing facility. The New Zealand Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulations (NZNEES) was formed with the intention to act as a vehicle to interface with other similar networks overseas and allow New Zealand researchers to participate equally in the new global forum. NZNEES aims to facilitate collaborations with likeminded experts worldwide and access of state-of-the-art experimental and computational resources. This paper reviews two of the Auckland node’s highlights, the capabilities of the Mobile Field Laboratory (MFL) and the distributed hybrid testing setup. The MFL take advantage of Auckland’s access to buildings earmarked for destruction to conduct nonlinear tests on in-situ structural and geotechnical systems. A high speed satellite connection provides real time teleparticipation and teleoperation access of the MFL for remote researchers worldwide. Moreover, the NZNEES@Auckland node is equipped with a distributed hybrid testing setup that is compatible with setups found in United States and United Kingdom. NZNEES is already actively participating in coordinated studies with NEES@UCDAVIS, UK-NEES and NCREE. Examples of recent projects are presented to illustrate the current capabilities.