MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Centrifuge Shaker System for Multi-Hazard Resilience Research and Training

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) project enables the acquisition of a cutting-edge geotechnical testing facility at the University of Colorado Boulder to advance the resilience of critical infrastructure against natural disasters. Modern lifelines across the country face compounding threats from severe flooding, prolonged droughts, heavy precipitation, and permafrost thaw, which can occur alone, together, or in succession with earthquakes. Understanding how soil, rock, and foundational infrastructure respond to these compound hazards is critical for designing safer buildings, bridges, embankments, and utilities. This instrument establishes a centralized, shared regional and national resource that bridges multiple scientific and engineering disciplines. By providing realistic physical simulations of disaster scenarios and improving engineering design procedures and standards, the facility directly advances public safety, economic prosperity, and national welfare. Beyond the immediate research benefits, the project radically transforms science and engineering education across the region. It provides unique hands-on training opportunities for engineering undergraduate students, graduate researchers, and local community college students, while simultaneously fostering robust collaborations between academic institutions and private industry partners to build a highly skilled, technologically literate workforce. The acquired instrument consists of a state-of-the-art multifunctional test chamber and shake table assembly integrated onto an existing 400 g-ton centrifuge. This system enables the precise physical modeling of interacting geologic materials and structural systems under elevated gravity states to accurately replicate prototype stresses. The technical objective is to systematically simulate the complex thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of the shallow subsurface under single, cascading, or concurrent hydrologic, temperature, and seismic hazards. Utilizing advanced servo-actuator systems and specialized environmental control software, the apparatus regulates vibrations, precipitation, relative humidity, and temperature variations with high precision and reproducibility. These technical capabilities allow investigators to explore the dynamic response of soil-infrastructure interfaces, validate advanced numerical tools, and evaluate novel ground improvement methods for multi-hazard adaptation and mitigation. Additionally, the broad frequency bandwidth and high payload capacity of this instrument enable multi-disciplinary testing, including the evaluation of shock and vibration in aerospace components, the characterization of viscoelastic meta-materials, and the validation of new sensor technologies operating in extreme environments. The long-term operation plan ensures broad multi-user access and a sustainable structure for testing, rendering this facility a cornerstone for multi-hazard resilience research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.