Performance of Improved Ground under Strong Seismic Loading

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0070278SitarLiquefaction-induced foundation displacement during earthquakes is a major cause of damage to all types of structures. However, evidence from historical events show that improved sites suffer less ground deformation and subsidence than adjacent, unimproved areas. However, as earthquake-engineering moves in the direction of performance based design, the ability to adequately and accurately predict the performance of the foundation elements, including improved ground becomes paramount.The ultimate objective of this research project is to develop a suite of empirical, experimental, and analytical data on the parameters that control seismically induced deformations of improved ground to serve as a rational basis for performance based design. A 2-year program of research incorporating 8 centrifuge experiments at UC Davis National Geotechnical Centrifuge will be conducted. This program of experimental work is aimed at providing some of the much-needed high quality quantitative experimental data. However, since similar work aimed specifically at marine structure and embankments is currently being planned at the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) and Port and Harbour Research Institute (PHRI) in Japan, there exists a unique opportunity to integrate the parallel studies and obtain the benefits of comparing and evaluating several independent data sets. This project is supported under the 3rd-year competition under NSF 98-36. "US Japan Cooperative Research in Urban Earthquake Disaster Mitigation."