History

The Laboratory for Earthquake Engineering (LEE) of the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens was established in 1981, for the study of the effects of earthquakes and vibrations on structures. The building was constructed and equipped under the supervision of the first Director of the LEE, Professor P. Carydis. The initial 20% of the project was financed by the ministries of Education and Economics and the remaining 80% by the ministry of Public Works.
An Earthquake Simulator with six degrees of freedom has been installed in the LEE; the particular piece of equipment was initially calibrated and started its operation at the beginning of 1986 and has been operating ever since. A Reaction Wall has also been installed for the execution of static, monotonic or cyclic, tests either under force or displacement control conditions. Furthermore, a special testing apparatus has been installed for the execution of static tests on masonry walls subjected to in-plane monotonic or cyclic displaments with simultaneous vertical compression loads.
In 2000 the LEE was certified by TUV CERT (TUV Austria Hellas), for Dynamic Seismic Tests using the earthquake simulator, according to ISO 9002/1994. Starting on 12/1/2007, it implemented a Quality Management System for DYNAMIC SEISMIC TESTS certified by TUV Austria, the Austrian Organization of Inspection and Certification. The current relevant certification of the LEE by this organization is according to standard EN ISO 9001:2008 (Certificate Registration No. 20 100 10200 5205 ).

The LEE is directed by Associate Professor M. Fragiadakis.