Nicos Makris,

Professor and Chair of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering

Southern Methodist University

Makris episode 1

Dampers: shock absorbers for buildings

Earthquake engineer Nicos Makris joins us to discuss protective dampers, large-scale devices that function like shock absorbers for buildings and bridges. Dampers built into a structure absorb and isolate earthquake, wind, and traffic vibrations. Prof Makris reveals a new type of damper he’s designed that uses pressurized sand to address hydraulic failures in oil-based dampers.

More info on Professor Makris’s sand damper research at NHERI Lehigh:

SMU-Lehigh Collaboration: Supplemental Energy Dissipation Through Pressurized Sand Dampers to CLT Rocking Structures

https://lehigh.designsafe-ci.org/projects/supplemental-energy-dissipation-through-pressurized-sand-dampers-to-clt-rocking-structures/

Investigation of a Novel Pressurized Sand Damper for Sustainable Seismic and Wind Protection of Buildings https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2036131&HistoricalAwards=false

NHERI Lehigh facility: https://lehigh.designsafe-ci.org/facility/overview/

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