Key UC Contacts
What We Did
The Seismic Protection of Museum Artefacts was a joint project by the University of Canterbury and Canterbury Museum. Aims to provide seismic protection solutions to museums and galleries to secure their collections safely. Currently, a commonly used method in New Zealand is anchoring small to medium sized objects by applying adhesive dots at their base. The objective is to recommend a standardised installation method which encompasses the procedure of making adhesive dots, quantifying the number of dots required, and where to apply them. Assumptions are made based on engineering judgements to reduce the complexity and to better communicate with the general public. Simplifying the input variables down to basic object information and location of the object.
In addition, for large objects where adhesive dots alone are insufficient, a simple cost-effective base isolation device is proposed to reduce the seismic demand. The base-isolated platform is comprised of a rigid substrate that supports the objects and four PTFE flat sliders glued at the base. This device is designed such that it can be made by museum staff or private collectors. Guidance is also provided for the required clearance around the base isolation platform. The proposed method has been tested on a shake table (see image), the vase successfully survived the shaking and the base-isolated platform displaced within the prediction.
Who Was Involved
University of Canterbury: Claire Dong, Professor Tim Sullivan, Professor Rajesh Dhakal, Dr Giovanni De Francesco, Alan Poynter and Dr Sean Rees. Canterbury Museum: Emily Fryer, Neeha Velagapudi.
Why It Matters
Artefacts in museums, galleries, and private collections have significant cultural value. In regions with high seismicity, there may be risk of irreversible damage due to earthquake shaking. The current use of adhesive dots can provide some level of protection to the artefacts, but concerns have been raised around a lack of guidance to quantify how many adhesive dots are sufficient. The result of this project directly answers this question and advances the solution by proposing a base-isolated platform for larger objects.
Learn More
A digital interface is in progress, we aim to make the guidance accessible national wide.
