Strategic International Research Cooperative Program (SICP)
CONCERT-Japan
Projects Selected for Funding (2013)

The aim of this research is to clarify the international standard of handling of disaster risk in terms of spatial planning, and to make a comparative study of its current status. Specifically, the Japanese side will clarify the current status of plans for recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the problems in their implementation. The German and Slovakian sides will clarify disaster management in terms of spatial planning in their own countries.

Through mutual exchange of knowledge, this research is expected to produce an ideal model of spatial planning taking into account disaster risk for each country.

The aim of this project is to provide a rational framework for the assessment and improvement of the resilience of road networks subjected to worst-case earthquakes that trigger additional hazards.

The Japanese team will perform research on Worst-Case Scenarios, Post-Disaster Transportation Needs, and Resilience-Based Network Optimization. The EU teams will perform research on Network Damage Estimation considering Accumulated Hazard and Structural Robustness of Critical Network Components.

Through collaborative and complementary research between EU and Japan, this research is expected to produce a planning methodology for resilient road networks.

Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are powerful technologies for rapidly collecting useful information on the damage caused by disasters. However, since many different types of RS data are available, imagery co-registration, information integration and feature extraction need reliable and advanced methodologies. In the RAPIDMAP project, the partners will develop practical ways to integrate RS data tools in near real time and to allow users to use those data soon after the disasters, by means of WebGIS tools. This will help not only decision makers but also end-users in the actual disaster area. The key components of this project are: (1) Near real time monitoring: the procedure of near real time monitoring with satellites as well as Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV) will be set up and demonstrated by using the facilities of the partners. (2) Data co-registration: in disasters, various images as well as maps come from different sources. The co-registration of multiple images is a key technology for information integration. In this project, a system to co-register multiple images in near real time will be developed. (3) Data fusion and change detection: one of the advantages of RS is that it allows collection of information with multiple sensors. Various methods for fusing optical sensor data with active microwave sensor Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for information extraction and change detection will be developed. (4) Decision Support System (DSS) based on WebGIS technologies: the collected and integrated information have to be easily accessible and visible by decision makers and end-users in near real time, worldwide. By using WebGIS technologies, a DSS will allow easy access, retrieval and visualization of all the information (fused data, images, maps, etc.) in a very short time after data collection and processing.

The objective of this project is to develop an innovative seismic strengthening system designed to ensure the stability of infill walls under both in- and out-of-plane forces, and to make a reliable contribution to the lateral load resistance of the frame. The Turkish team will initially compile the existing literature on testing, performance and modeling of masonry in-filled frames, and will conduct laboratory testing of in-filled frames with and without the proposed system under in-plane loading. The Japanese team will mainly perform laboratory testing of in-filled frames with and without the same system subjected to in- and out-of-plane dynamic (shaking table) ground motions. The German team will conduct numerical simulations using nonlinear finite element methods. The fully developed system has the potential to change the way that in-filled RC frames are designed by including the contribution of the infill walls to the lateral load resistance of the frame, resulting in improved seismic performance and hence improved resilience against disasters.

The aim of this research is to elucidate the mechanisms by which coastal structures are affected by tsunamis, and to develop ways to mitigate that damage. Specifically, the Japanese team will develop new hard measures and guidelines for the tsunami-resilient design of structures and will establish techniques for tsunami risk management. The Turkish and German teams will conduct hydraulic tests and evaluation towards safe structural design, and the Norwegian team will develop methods for tsunami risk management. All teams will conduct hydraulic model tests and numerical analyses of the mechanisms of tsunami damage.

Through the complementary research of our teams in Japan and Europe, we expect to develop methods for the mitigation of tsunami risk, that will be globally applicable.

This project aims at development of a visible light-responsive photocatalytic system for solar hydrogen production. In particular, the Japanese side will mainly prepare heterogeneous particulate photocatalysts and characterize those prepared in the European teams, and the German and French teams will prepare and characterize active metal complex photocatalysts and noble metal-loaded titania photocatalysts, respectively. The Japanese side will prepare and characterize titania photocatalysts loaded with metal complexes that will be synthesized by the German team or with noble metal particles, while the German and French teams will prepare and characterize active ruthenium complexes and study reaction dynamics for photocatalysts prepared by the Japanese and German teams respectively.

Through this project, development of innovative heterogeneous photocatalysts and establishment of their precise characterization are expected to be enhanced.

The aim of this project is to develop a smart methane adsorbent of radiator-function, using nanostructured graphene and a metal organic framework (MOF). The Japanese team will produce nanostructured graphene of high surface area and will supply the European groups with it. The Italian team will synthesize MOF nanocrystals and hybridize graphene and MOF. The French team will theoretically design a promising hybridization route of graphene and MOF. The Hungarian team will characterize the graphene-MOF hybrids with colloid chemical methods. The Spanish team will evaluate the methane storage capacity of the graphene-MOF hybrids with high pressure adsorption. The Japanese team will supply 1500 m2/g of nanostructured graphene to the European teams. The European teams will synthesize MOF nanocrystals and hybridize the nanostructured graphene and MOF, evaluating the methane capacity experimentally and theoretically.

The fruitful collaboration of representative scientists of France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Spain covering key professional areas can provide methane adsorbents for construction of safe and energy-saving storage and transportation systems of natural gas, toward the clean energy we need to establish for the future.

All solid batteries are expected to be promising prospects for the future, with higher capacities than current Li ion batteries. The purpose of this project is to understand the distribution and dynamic behavior of Li ions in a working battery at the um scale. As a part of an international team, the Japanese team will prepare all-solid-batteries and perform in-plane Li distribution analysis. The Spanish team will conduct depth profile analysis of Li ion distribution on a thin-film all-solid battery, which will be prepared by a German institution. The German team is also responsible for building a simulation model of all-solid-batteries, based on the analysis results of this project.

Through this international project, we expect to enhance our understanding of the bottle neck in performance of all-solid-batteries and to lead to eventual improvement of battery performance.

The objective of this project is the development and design optimization of the next generation of stationary hydrogen energy systems. The Japanese research group will mainly engage in the research of low-temperature stationary hydrogen systems. The European groups will mainly engage with high-temperature stationary hydrogen systems and will investigate the properties of the novel hydrogen storage materials and the storage tank.

Due to the interdisciplinary approach of this research, it is expected that the state of the technology of hydrogen energy storage & distribution will evolve, and innovative engineering techniques will also be discovered in the field of material science.