European Laboratory for Structural Assessment: 30 years of collaborative research

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) inaugurated the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) in 1992. The ELSA Reaction Wall facility has unique dimensions and testing capabilities in Europe and worldwide. ELSA has become a world-renowned reference for experimental research in earthquake engineering, fostering collaboration across laboratories, research centres, academia and industry, and providing transnational access to the Reaction Wall facility within the European Union framework programmes for research and innovation. This paper revisits selected large-scale experimental tests that were performed at the ELSA Reaction Wall in the framework of collaborative research projects and summarises the key developments of the continuous pseudodynamic testing method, which allowed more efficient seismic testing of large-scale specimens. The impact of collaborative research at the ELSA Reaction Wall has been manifold: i) advancement of the knowledge on the structural and seismic safety of structures, ii) development of conventional and innovative techniques for the design, assessment and retrofit of buildings and bridges for earthquake resistance, iii) transfer of state-of-the-art knowledge to European and international standards and codes of practice, and iv) training of young researchers

TSIONIS Georgios;  NEGRO Paolo;  MOLINA Francisco Javier;  PERONI Marco;  LAMPERTI TORNAGHI Marco;  PEGON Pierre; 

2025-03-27

International Association for Earthquake Engineering

JRC135556

3006-5933 (online),