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Engineering Laboratory

Materials and Structural Systems Division

News and Updates

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Two Named to Earthquake Advisory Board

September 22, 2009

Two distinguished earthquake experts have been named to serve on the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR) of the National Earthquake...

Shake, Rattle, No Roll: Construction Guide for Earthquake-Resistant Buildings

July 28, 2009

A guide for designing buildings using steel moment frames to resist earthquakes has been published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...

Photo of researchers from France's National Scientific and Technological Institute and NIST with the SPHERE

NIST and French Lab to Study Weathering of Advanced Composites for Bridges and Piers

February 24, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has signed an agreement to collaborate with the French Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées...

The barely visible blue-green area at the top of this X-ray image of concrete with the NIST nanoadditive shows that very few chloride ions penetrate into the concrete.

Viscosity-Enhancing Nanomaterials May Double Service Life of Concrete

January 27, 2009

Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key...

Microtomography image of the pore structure of a fireproofing material

Baked Slug—New Method to Test Fireproofing Material

October 1, 2008

In a high-temperature blaze, how well does a fireproofing material shield a building's important steel structures from heat? Answering this question has been...

Comments Requested on Draft Earthquake Hazards Plan

April 15, 2008

Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but their impacts on life, property and the economy can and should be managed. That's the challenge that Congress has given the...

Failure Investigations Report Highlights Efforts for Safer Buildings

March 5, 2008

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has submitted to Congress the annual report of activities under the National Construction Safety Team...

Fifteen Named to Earthquake Hazards Reduction Advisory Committee

February 28, 2007

William Jeffrey, director of the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has named 15 distinguished academic, industry...

Final Nightclub Fire Report Urges Code Compliance

June 30, 2005

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fire investigators have urged all state and local governments to adopt and aggressively enforce national...

Final NIST Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Report Urges Strict Adherence to and Strengthening of Current Model Safety Codes

June 29, 2005

Full list of recommendations Complete Report: Volume 1 (.pdf; requires Acrobat Reader) Appendices: Volume 2 (.pdf; requires Acrobat Reader) GAITHERSBURG, MD —...

Commerce's NIST Asks Public for Information on Rhode Island Nightclub Fire

November 25, 2003

Remarks by James Hill, Acting Director, Building and Fire Research Laboratory Remarks by William Grosshandler, Lead Investigator, Rhode Island Nighclub fire...

NIST Names Two Additional Experts to National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee

April 28, 2003

Two additional building and fire experts have been appointed by Arden Bement Jr., director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and...

Commerce's NIST Launches Investigation into Rhode Island Nightclub Fire

February 27, 2003

The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today launched an investigation into the tragic fire of Feb. 20, 2003, at The...

Potential Microchip Insulator Shows Surprising Behavior When Tested In Ultra-Small Scale

August 24, 1998

Scientists analyzing polymers as possible insulators for advanced microchips were surprised to learn that the materials behave much differently when they are in...

New Method Will Help In Efforts To Find Better Insulators, Make Faster Microchips

August 23, 1998

Scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology have devised a new method and built a new instrument to aid in the search...

Sunder Named Chief of Structures Division

March 18, 1998

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology has announced the appointment of S. Shyam Sunder as chief of the Structures Division in...

New Guidelines May Soon Mean More Buildings Protected By Earthquake Shock Absorbers

March 3, 1997

Slide to the left, slide to the right and don't fall down. No, it's not a new dance, but a building with shock absorbers—a feature that could someday save more...

California Quake Highlights Many Structural Success Stories, Some Major Shortcomings, Says NIST

April 21, 1994

The strong earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area last January 17 provided the first full-scale test of modern seismic structural codes and revealed both...

IN-CORE v1.0.0 Released!

Following several years of development as part of the NIST-funded Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning (CoE), the Interdependent Networked...

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