Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist
Attack
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack
on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying hard to solve a
question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable. Can building
be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists?
Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural
engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for
Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at UB traveled to ground
zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visiting
the site as part of an MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning
the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and searching
for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are
standing. "Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and
look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that
are still standing, but that sustained damage," said M. Bruneau, Ph.D. " Our
immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those
buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake
engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve
enhanced performance of Buildings in the event of terrorist attacks." he
added. Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in
startling detail the monumental damage inflicted on the World Trade Center
towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers
remains standing, but was badly damaged. "This building is many meters away from
the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of
that building", explained A. Whittaker, Ph. D. "The column became a missile that
shot across the road, through the window and through the floor."
The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the
engineers. For example, the floor framing systems in one of the adjacent
buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling
debris to remain intact. "Highly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a
simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance." he added. Other strategies
may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a
load-bearing column fails." We also need a better understanding of the mechanism
of collapse" , said A. Whittaker. "We need to find out what causes a building to
collapse and how you can predict it." A. Reinhorn, Ph.D. noted
that "earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of many buildings in the past.
It induces dynamic response and extremely high stresses and deformations in
structural components. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may
be directly applicable to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part
of our mission now at UB is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones
where none exist at present."
单选题
The question raised in the first paragraph is one ______.
A.that was asked by structural engineers a month ago.
B.that is too difficult for structural engineers to answer even now.
C.that was never thought of before the terrorist attack.
D.that terrorists are eager to find a solution to.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】
单选题
The project funded by the National Science Foundation ______.
A.was first proposed by some engineers at UB.
B.took about two days to complete.
C.was to investigate the damage caused by the terrorist attack.
D.was to find out why some buildings could survive the blasts.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】
单选题
The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker ______.
A.was part of the building close to the World Trade Center.
B.was part of the World Trade Center.
C.was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center.
D.damaged many buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade
Center.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
单选题
A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to
ground zero is that ______.
A.floors in the adjacent buildings remain undamaged.
B.some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion.
C.simple floor framing systems are more blast resistant.
D.floors in one of the adjacent buildings were pierced by tons of
debris.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】
单选题
What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the
following EXCEPT that ______.
A.blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant
design.
B.blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant
design.
C.solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to
terrorist-resistant design.
D.blast engineering emerges as a new branch of science.