This award is an outcome of the NSF 08-519 program solicitation George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Research (NEESR) competition. This project will utilize the NEES equipment site at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. New tools for data visualization and analysis are needed to take full advantage of the density of test data being collected in NEESR projects. These tools should have similar functionalities as post-processors for viewing and interpreting the results of finite element analyses in which users are able to explore all aspects of structural response in the context of its geometry and considering its material properties. The creation and extensive use of these types of tools is critical for achieving the NEES mission of creating more comprehensive and reliable computational models for use in professional practice and research. As part of a project sponsored through the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and led by the PI of this project, a significant advance was made to create a next generation tool for the visualization, exploration, and analysis of experimental test data. This tool, named ExVis for Experimental Visualization, integrates the data from multiple measurement sources (load cells, displacement transducers, strain gauges, crack maps, and absolute and relative target displacements) with the full geometry, reinforcing details, and material properties of prestressed girders that were load tested to failure as part of this NAS project. ExVis was only developed for the specific geometry, properties, and instrumentation used in these test girders and did not provide all desired functionalities for broader applications. This project will expand and generalize the ExVis program functionality through its use in providing an in-depth exploration and analysis of the measured response of reinforced concrete structural walls that are being load tested to failure at the Illinois NEES site as part of the project NEESR-SG Seismic Behavior, Analysis, and Design of Complex Wall Systems. With respect to intellectual merit, the development and use of ExVis will enable a deeper examination of the measured response of test structures than was previously possible. This will significantly advance the development, calibration, and validation of constitutive relationships, behavioral models, and numerical analysis tools. The project will also begin the difficult task of fusing test data from multiple measurement sources that have different areas of coverage, densities, and accuracies. With respect to broader impacts, this project will illustrate the value of collecting and formatting dense experimental test data, and thereby encourage researchers to gather more complete information about the response of test structures. This will be achieved in part by uploading the formatted experimental test data on the reinforced concrete structural walls to a central archive and then providing direct access to the ExVis program for researchers from the United States and abroad to explore this test data for themselves. By providing this level of access, it will enable and encourage others to make a critical review and use of test data which is a core mission of NEES. The ExVis program will be open source as well as designed and documented so that it can be expanded to provide new functionalities as well as to serve as a prototype for the creation of even more comprehensive data visualization and analysis tools. Data from this project will be made available through the NEES data repository (www.nees.org).
