Buildings in earthquake-prone New Zealand will be safer, thanks to award-winning technology developed at the University of Auckland.
The resilient slip-friction joint (RSFJ) can be used in new buildings and retro-fitted into existing structures and could be on the market as soon as next year if testing goes according to plan.
The RSFJ is a structural connection in foundations and throughout the building - anywhere columns and beams meet. It absorbs seismic energy through friction and forces the building to return to its original position. Current products on the market can offer only one of these two capabilities but this innovative joint combines them.
Dr Pouyan Zarnani, a former PhD student at the University of Auckland, and Professor Pierre Quenneville, head of the University's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, created the technology.
"The potential is huge," Quenneville says. "It's scalable so it can be used in small and large buildings, and it doesn't matter whether they are concrete, timber or steel. "As an engineer I'm excited because of the technology but there are a lot of non-engineers excited too."
The technology is in the final stages of development and will soon undergo testing at the University's new campus in Newmarket. Full-scale tests are planned for early next year, including mimicking the action of an earthquake to see how it performs.
"We need to make sure we understand how to control the behaviour to tell engineers how to use it. If we had all the answers, it could take six months to get to market."
As well as making buildings more resilient, the invention aims to ensure a more resilient economy by minimising business disruption and allowing people back into a building quicker.
"If businesses can't operate in their damaged building following an earthquake, an entire local economy is at stake and recovery will take time," Quenneville says. "You need to re-build more than buildings, you need to re-build the disrupted economy, and while you're busy doing this, someone else is grabbing lost market share."
The technology will be introduced in New Zealand's high-risk seismic zones but has potential to be rolled out to other countries around the Ring of Fire (the Pacific basin subject to many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) and beyond.
"The Christchurch re-build is a golden opportunity to implement this. Later on, we will aim to expand to Japan and the US and further consider internationalisation. Our aim is to become a global seismic solutions technology leader."
Quenneville and Zarnani teamed up with Keane Lee, Ady Verma and Anya Valyashko to enter the Spark $100k Challenge, the University of Auckland's entrepreneurship competition open to all staff and students that ends in a Dragons' Den-style pitching session.
They beat the other 14 finalists to take out the top prize, winning $25,000 in seed capital and six months' residency at business incubator The Icehouse. This week they will receive feedback from the competition judges and mentors, and discuss the next steps needed to develop the venture.
The RSFJ is the second patent for Quenneville - his first was an award-winning piece of technology cutting the time, risk and cost of installing timber portal frames, already implemented in buildings in Napier and Rotorua.
"Those are proud moments. I'm really looking forward to seeing this new one in buildings."