Main Research Fields

Striving to Realize a Safe Society

There is an urgent need to accelerate and advance the development of disaster-mitigation technologies in order to minimize the damage caused by earthquakes and meteorological disasters. To respond to this need and contribute to a safer society, the Center for Structural Safety and Reliability is currently involved in the quantitative evaluation and analysis of safety hazards. It is also engaged in research and development intended to enhance the safety and reliability of built structures.
In addition to promoting the proactive development of earthquake-resistance technologies as well as seismic-isolation and vibration-control technologies, the center is actively developing technologies pertaining to evacuation in the event of fires, floods, and other emergencies.
In its research and development related to concrete-fabricated structures this center focuses on technologies related to quality management during construction, monitor-based maintenance technologies, and technologies related to repair and reinforcement.
Other research and development efforts include the development of technology for the safe storage of energy sources in rock beds, including crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Seeking to Establish a Low-Carbon Society

This center places special emphasis on developing technologies to mitigate global warming. Environmental targets such as energy conservation, the slowing of global warming, and the reduction of CO₂ emissions cannot be achieved through a single technology, but require a combination of accumulated technologies. To this end, the Global Environment Technology Center pursues development across a wide spectrum of technologies.
In April 2008, the Institute of Technology initiated activities to reduce CO₂ emissions discharged from all Institute operations.
The Institute of Technology promotes energy-saving, low-carbon business activities by eliminating wasteful operations, with the goal of achieving a 20% reduction in CO₂ emissions in 2012 compared to fiscal 2007 levels. In connection with these low-carbon promotion activities, the Institute of Technology has recently initiated environmental visibility efforts and launched an energy-saving awareness campaign. Our goal is to verify the impact of various policies and eventually to draft and submit a number of proposals to all Shimizu departments and customers.
In addition to establishing easily implemented low-carbon policies, we will promote low-carbon activities with a view toward developing and verifying new technologies that will help achieve our CO₂ emissions target.

Creating Safe, Convenient, and Comfortable Work and Living Environments

In the field of facilities and urban planning, the center performs research and development activities with a special focus on history, culture, and people. From the perspective of users and residents, we analyze the social values of cities, communities, and architecture and propose measures and policies that promote their effective use.
In the area of information technology, the center promotes research and development related to intelligent information environments using the latest information and telecommunications technologies and electromagnetic environment control technologies.
We create safe, convenient, and comfortable work and living environments that are tailored to the needs of our ubiquitous network society; to do this, we consider facilities, people, and information technologies as an integrated whole.
Furthermore, to create environments of the highest quality, we pursue research on contamination prevention, airflow control, and simulation technologies for building next-generation clean rooms in semiconductor and pharmaceutical plants. We also promote research and development on the most advanced technologies needed to create healthy, comfortable indoor environments.
In its work on various issues related to sound and vibration, the Center for Sophisticated Space and Facility Engineering uses various measurement, testing, and analytical techniques to study concert-hall acoustic design, urban noise, structure-borne sound, environmental vibration, micro-vibration, seismic isolation, and vibration control. We then propose optimal solutions based on the results of our measurement, testing, and analysis.

Responding to Technical Issues Raised by Atomic Energy Facilities

The Center for Atomic Energy Engineering can boast world-class achievements in the development of technologies for forecasting earthquake vibrations reaching specific facilities by taking into account predicted seismic activity and the ground characteristics of the locations in question. The center also develops analytical techniques and performs experiments on structural materials, both of which are necessary steps in assessing earthquake safety and the soundness of facilities. We believe that seismic isolation structures will effectively contribute to safer atomic power generation plants and are energetically promoting research and development efforts in this area.

In the area of shielding analysis technology, the center is accumulating experimental data as part of its efforts to improve analytical accuracy. We take pride in the capabilities and expertise that enable our shielding design specialists to provide industry-leading technical support for the design and construction of radiation shielding for atomic energy facilities and high-energy accelerator facilities.

Radioactive waste generated by atomic-power-related businesses must be buried underground under conditions that ensure safety. The Center for Atomic Energy Engineering also promotes research and development on assessment technologies for geological environments and groundwater flows, technologies for evaluating underground mineshaft safety, and artificial barrier construction technologies.

Refining and Advancing Analytical Technologies

More than 80% of the researchers at the center have doctoral degrees in engineering. One of their important missions is to contribute to the refinement and advancement of analytical technologies through energetic participation in relevant academic societies.
The specialists in analytical technologies working at the Center for Advanced Computational Engineering offer expertise in different fields, facilitating the development of cross-sectional technologies of great breadth. Furthermore, the presence of specialists in various fields creates positive interactions, generating a synergy that leads to new research topics and the development of new ideas.
In the construction industry, by enabling the evaluation and verification of safety performance, environmental performance, and hardware technology performance, analytical technologies have played an important role in a series of business activities ranging from concept formation, planning, and design to construction and management.
At Shimizu, analytical technologies have bolstered the operations of our business divisions. In the future, however, analysis specialists must do more than use various computational tools for evaluation purposes; they must also interpret analysis results and explain essential matters to customers in an easy-to-understand manner.
At the Center for Advanced Computational Engineering, each researcher is always prepared to take the stage to discuss the results of his or her research and development efforts.

Advancing Construction Technologies to Achieve Production Innovation

The research and development activities undertaken by the Center for Production Engineering encompass all areas of construction, including ground foundations, above-ground structures, interiors, and exteriors. In the area of geotechnical and foundation sciences, research and development proceeds on compound foundations and ground improvement methods, with the goals of improving earthquake resistance and streamlining foundation construction in the areas of soft-ground construction. The results of these R&D activities have found successful application in the actual design and construction of numerous buildings.
In the area of structural engineering, efforts focus on developing mixed structures, in addition to steel structures and reinforced concrete structures. The Hy-Ecos construction method combines the advantages of reinforced concrete columns and steel beams to provide large, cost-effective pillar-less spaces.
The Adaptable Building recycling-oriented building system reduces environmental impact by reusing construction materials. In addition, it enables easy transformation of interior spaces through the rearrangement of structural components during use. This system represents one of the impressive production engineering innovations achieved at the center.
For the concrete used to build structural foundations, research and development efforts focus on preventing cracks and improving durability with the goal of prolonging the service life of reinforced concrete structures; creating the high-strength and ultrahigh-strength concrete essential for high-rise buildings; and developing concrete resource-recycling systems that contribute to the development of a recycling-oriented society.
In the area of building exteriors, the center strives to improve the quality of concrete-base (e.g., stone materials and tiles) and glass-base facades to achieve not just enhanced external building design, but better safety and reliability. The center is also active in research and development on external renewal (refinement) methods that increase the value of existing buildings.

Challenges in Creating Future Facilities through Technology Incubation