October 9, 2013

An Important note from the Principal Investigator Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL on the document that follows:

The following PowerPoint was prepared by A. Astaneh-Asl in 2002.

Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL, Ph.D., P.E.

Professor and Principal Investigator for the NSF Funded UC Berkeley WTC Project (Duration: 10-2001 to 9-2002)

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Engineering Rapid Response to Disasters

The Case of World Trade Center

By

Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Professor

(www.ce.berkeley.edu/~astaneh)

University of California, Berkeley

9/11

Rapid Response Investigation

This document is part of the “World Trade Center Post-Disaster Reconnaissance and Perishable Structural

Engineering Data Collection”, a research project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation at the Univ. of

California Berkeley with Prof. Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL as Principal Investigator

(http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~astaneh) as the Principal Investigator. Duration of the project was from 10/2001 to

9/2002. Further Information and project archives are at http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC. © 2001 Abolhassan

ASTANEH-ASL.

"This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial -No Derivatives License."

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http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

The lecture is dedicated to the memories of all victims

of 9/11 attacks and to the firefighters, police officers

and other first responders who so heroically sacrificed

their lives to save others. A. Astaneh-Asl

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Question: How engineers contribute to

Emergency Response?

Answer:

(1) By providing first-responders with

technical information on structural

and fire safety,

(2) By investigating the disaster,

establishing the cause of failure and

by learning from it and;

(3) By providing public with technical

information on disasters.

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The Case of

World Trade Center

… and my involvement

Credit:Photographer Unknown

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World’s 10 Tallest Buildings

WTC 1 2 3 4 5 Petronas Sears Jin Mao Citic Plaza Shun Ming Malaysia Chicago China New York China China

88 stories 110 stories 88 stories 110 stories 80 stories 69 stories

1,483 ft 1,450 ft 1,381 ft 1,360 ft 1,283 ft 1,260 ft

6 7 8 9 10 Empire State Central Plaza Bank of China Emirates Tower 1 The Center New York Hong Kong Hong Kong U.A. E. Hong Kong

102 stories 78 stories 70 stories 55 stories 79 stories

1,250 ft 1,227 ft 1,209 ft 1,165 ft 1,148 ft

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Height of Skyscrapers

1368ft 1381 1450 1483 1509 1883ft

Planned, not

completed yet 7 of 45

Forces that buildings are

designed for:

Some

Buildings in

Recent Years

Wind Blast Seismic Gravity Planes Only

WTC

Designed for

Boeing 707

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The Architect

Minoru Yamasaki

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The Structural Engineer

Leslie E. Robertson

Credit:Photo by Alan McWeeney/New Yorker

LERA Photo

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Typical Framing System Water Tower Place, Chicago

Credit: 100 World’s Tall Buildings Credit: “Building Structures” by W. Schuller

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The Steel Structure

Credit:PANYNJ

Towers had large column-free areas

209 ft

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Tube System

Credit: PANYNJ

Column Section 13 of 45

Floors

Credit: PANYNJ

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World Trade Center

Construction

Credit:PANYNJPhotographer Unknown

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Construction of WTC Tower

Credit:PANYNJ

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Car bomb caused collapse of 3

parking floors but structure

survived.

The 1993 Attacks

Credit: Engineering News Record 17 of 45

World Trade Center

The 9/11 Attacks

Credit:Photographer Unknown

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3-D Plane Hit Areas and Casualties

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External and Internal Columns as well as

floors were damaged in 3 floors

Plane Impacting the Structure

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Plane Impacting the Structure

External and Internal Columns as well as

floors were damaged in 3 floors

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External and Internal Columns as well as

floors were damaged in 3 floors

Ensuing Fires

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The

damaged

floor

collapsed

dropping

top portion

on the lower

part

collapsing

the entire

structure

Final Collapse Due to Gravity

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Post Collapse Investigation of WTC

Steel Structure

(Sept. ’01-Present)

By A. Astaneh-Asl

Research Funded by the

National Science Foundation

Photo by William Farrington for A. Astaneh’s WTC NSF Project. Copyright © 2001 UC Board of Regents

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Post Collapse Investigation of WTC Steel Structure

(Sept. ’01-Present)

By A. Astaneh-Asl

Research Funded by the National Science Foundation

http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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Here are some examples of our field findings.

Studies of World Trade Center, Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Photo by W. Farrington for A. Astaneh’s NSF Report

Photo by William Farrington for A. Astaneh’s WTC NSF Project. Copyright © 2001 UC Board of Regents

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Here are some examples of our field findings.

Studies of World Trade Center, Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Photo by A. Astaneh-Asl

http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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Here are some examples of our field findings.

Studies of World Trade Center, Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Photo: A. Astaneh-Asl http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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Here are some examples of our field findings.

Studies of World Trade Center, Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Photo: HNSE

http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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FEMA/ASCE BPAT Work (Oct. ‘01-March ’02)

Hindrances to investigations:

The recycling of steel structure, loss of perishable

data, FEMA/ASCE non-disclosures agreement, ….

and outrage of the victim’s families and firefighters

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Hearings of the Committee on Science,

U.S. House of Representatives

Chairman Boehlert,

Committee on Science

A. Astaneh-Asl

University of California

A bill was introduced in Congress to establish “National Construction Safety Team” within

Dept. of Commerce (NIST) to investigate future building collapses as well as the WTC

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Here at UC-Berkeley, we have continued analytical studies of the WTC with

collaboration of researchers and engineers from LLNL, IIT, and MSC

Software Corp.

UC-Berkeley and MSC Software Corporation

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Close ups

Fully loaded plane entering the structure and damaging it..

Studies of World Trade Center, Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: Civil and Mechanical Systems Program, National Science Foundation

University of California Berkeley and MSC Software Corporation

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University of California, Berkeley and MSC Software Corporation

Studies of the World Trade Center

Principal Investigator: A. Astaneh-Asl , Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Fire Heating-

up Damaged

Structure,

Weakening it

and the

Structure

Collapses

under the

Gravity Load.

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Current Status of our Studies

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Developing Protective Systems

At University of California, Berkeley

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The car bomb exploded too close to the building,

knocking out columns and transfer girders. Then due

to progressive collapse, ½ of the building collapse

under gravity load.

The Case of Progressive Collapse of

Murrah Building, Oklahoma City, 1995

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Analysis at LLNL and Actual Full Size

Test at Univ. of California at Berkeley

Vertical Displacement of

20.8 inches

Cables

A.Astaneh-Asl, D. McCallen, E.

Madsen, B. Jones, R. Jong, W. Li,

Y.Zhao,

http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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Composite Shear Walls Can Be Used

Around Stairwells to Protect Egress

Routes

Research Data on Fire Resistance Can be Useful

http://lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/WTC

Copyright © 2001 Abolhassan ASTANEH-ASL

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Lessons Learned and Concluding

Remarks

1. Need better fire protection for structures

2. Need better egress routes for the occupants

3. Need new systems to prevent progressive collapse

4. Developers, architects, structural engineers and fire engineering should work together and consider safety of the occupants the highest priority regardless of the cost.

5. We all need to do our best to eliminate hate, to avoid violent resolution of disputes and work harder to have a more peaceful world.

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Wish you still were here, …

Photo by: Andre Souroujon

….and more than 3000 of our loved ones who so

violently perished on 9/11. 42 of 45

What can we do about airplanes crashing

into buildings? 1. Need better protection against Progressive

Collapse.

2. Electronic signal based protections.

Crash of a plane into a 32-story

building in Milan Italy

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Composite Shear Walls Can Be Used Around

Stairwells to Protect Egress Routes

Relatively

Thin Steel

Plate Welded

to Steel

Structure

Lightly

Reinforced,

Lightweight

Concrete

Panel

Connected

to Steel Plate

Steel Plate Resists the

Pressure by Membrane Action.

Concrete Panel Bent and

Damaged.

Components of the

Proposed Wall

Membrane Action of Steel

Plate Behind Concrete Panel

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Wish you were here Concluding Remarks:

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