An invention titled “A System and Method for Rapid Building Damage Assessment After an Earthquake,” developed by Prof. Dr. Şenol Hakan Kutoğlu and Assist. Prof. Dr. Seda Akduman, academics at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN) Faculty of Engineering, has been registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) and granted official protection.
A System for Rapid and Scientific Assessment After an Earthquake
The invention covers a system and method that enables people to be quickly informed about potential damage to their buildings following an earthquake and allows an assessment of the building’s design. Within the system, information regarding the location of the building and residence, number of floors, floor on which the residence is located, characteristics of the reinforced concrete structural system, and structural features such as frame, shear wall, or mixed systems is entered into the system. In addition to the date and time of the earthquake, acceleration data obtained from an accelerometer are also included in the assessment, while the soil type of the residence is determined from a previously prepared official soil information map.
Based on these data, the short-period mapped spectral acceleration coefficient SS and the mapped spectral acceleration coefficient S1 for a 1.0-second period are determined. The data obtained are evaluated using the relevant local soil classification tables to calculate the site coefficients Fs and F1. Thus, mapped spectral acceleration values are converted into design spectral acceleration coefficients, creating an infrastructure for the rapid assessment of the building’s condition under earthquake effects. The invention aims to make a scientific and technological contribution to the rapid assessment processes needed after an earthquake and to enable a more effective assessment by considering building, earthquake, and soil data together.
Rector Ulusoy: “We Are Proud to See Academic Knowledge Transformed into Innovative Studies That Produce Solutions to Society’s Needs”
BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ulusoy made the following remarks regarding the invention:
“I sincerely congratulate Prof. Dr. Şenol Hakan Kutoğlu and Assist. Prof. Dr. Seda Akduman for developing such a valuable study that brings academic knowledge and technology together in an area such as earthquakes, which directly concerns our society and where rapid intervention is of great importance.
The ability to carry out rapid and accurate assessments of the safety of buildings following an earthquake is of great importance for the safety of life and property. The fact that this invention developed by our academics offers an innovative approach to rapid building damage assessment by evaluating building characteristics, earthquake data, and soil conditions together is an important indication of our University’s goal of transforming science into solutions addressing the needs of society.
I would like to express my gratitude to our Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, and the esteemed members of the Ministry of Industry and Technology for their support in increasing our country’s capacity to produce high value-added knowledge and technology, strengthening the research and innovation ecosystem, and enabling universities to become an active part of this ecosystem. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. M. Zeki Durak, President of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, and the TÜRKPATENT family for their efforts to strengthen our industrial property system, which makes significant contributions to the protection of original ideas resulting from scientific and technological developments and their transformation into social value.
I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Şenay Saraç, Head of our Industrial Property Consultancy Unit, for her efforts to ensure that these processes are carried out effectively, to inform our academics about industrial property rights, and to protect inventions. I wish this work to be beneficial to our country and the world of science.”