NEESR Planning/Collaborative Research: Liquefaction Experiments and Analysis Projects (LEAP) for Validation

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The main objective of this planning project is to lay the groundwork and to conduct preliminary research and preparation activities for a subsequent NEESR2 proposal to produce a high quality experimental data, as well as validate and develop confidence in the computational tools used for liquefaction analysis. The ultimate goal of the project is to advance the current understanding and computational predictive capabilities of the liquefaction phenomenon and its consequences on civil infrastructure systems through integrated centrifuge experiments and numerical simulations. The essential elements of this planning project consist of: a) a planning workshop to identify a group of boundary value problems and the material(s) of choice (e.g., type of sand) in the subsequent centrifuge tests of the NEESR2 project, b) an extensive and careful review and compilation of the experimental data available in the NEEShub and other relevant databases, c) preliminary class-C numerical simulations to begin the process of assessing the modeling capabilities currently available in the research community and geotechnical practice, d) design of a series of centrifuge tests that simulate a set of boundary value problems of interest to geotechnical practice with an increasing order of complexity, e) a prediction exercise symposium that leverages the results of the centrifuge tests that will be conducted by our international collaborators in the UK, Japan, and China, and f) development of validation metrics, tools, and protocols to assess the reliability of computational models.This planning project and the follow-on NEESR2 project will provide high quality validation data that will reduce the need for certain routine experiments and hence allow more resources to be used on experiments that explore new features of soil behavior. In turn, validated numerical modeling techniques and high confidence in their predictive capabilities will reduce the dependence of the profession on large scale costly experiments. The project will provide a rare opportunity for collaboration with the international community on a research topic that is of critical value to the international geotechnical engineering community. Three graduate students will participate in the project and will be trained in physical and numerical modeling of liquefiable soils. The three institutions will continue and build on their current outreach efforts to attract members of under-represented groups to participate in the project as graduate students. The project will establish an experimental dataset and a formal protocol for validation of our simulation tools to fully elucidate their capabilities and limitations. These capabilities and limitations are essential for intelligent management and maintenance of our infrastructure. Data from this project will be archived and made available to the public through the NEES data repository. This award is part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).