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Content archived on 2024-04-30

Seismic ground displacements as a tool for town planning, design and mitigation

Objective



Even though criteria for aseismic design are mainly based on ground stresses, groun displacements may be more relevant, because it is displacements and not stresses, that cause seismic damage. Recent severe earthquakes throughout the world and more particularly those occurring in densely populated areas (Kobe, 1995, Northridge, 1994 have brought clear evidences that most of the important and large scale damages an failures of civil engineering works are associated with large deformations of the ground. Different types of constructions will sustain different magnitudes of foundation displacements before becoming inoperative.

On the other hand, models that require many parameters may confuse engineers partly because of the complexity of the required information. Existing simple sliding-bloc models do not really work for large deformations. Developed models and methodologies are amenable to proper evaluation by field data from earthquakes and the existing knowledge on dynamic soil behavior. In view of the above, the following research work is proposed :
l. Develop "complexity-free" global models predicting large seismic ground deformations occurring both during and after earthquakes. For this purpose, a new sliding system simulating progressive decrease in inclination of the sliding earth mass, and new constitutive equations predicting realistically earthquake-induce degradation in soil shear strength and/or pore pressure build-up along the slip surface, will be developed. Using the new model, displacements will be computed for earthquake records, to determine the dominant parameters that control the displacements.
2. Develop a global easy-to-use methodology to be used in town planning, design of various civil engineering constructions and mitigation, based on (1) above. This methodology will be based on : (a) a set of criteria for allowable tolerable seismic ground displacements for different constructions and (b) a procedure predicting displacements of various civil engineering constructions or work (embankments, retaining walls, shallow foundations, pipelines and tunnels crossing unstable geologic formations, etc.) and natural slopes, using relevant an realistic parameters of the problem (seismological, local soil, topographical etc.).
3. Evaluate the developed model and methodology primarily with well-documented case histories of ground failures, but also from results of dynamic centrifuge tests and predictions of complex finite-element methods.

4. Develop global strategies mitigating earthquake risk for natural slopes and civil engineering constructions following (2), above.

5. Make propositions regarding Eurocode 8.

The project is fully consistent with the objectives and priorities defined by the EU It will contribute significantly to the European know-how in Earthquake Engineerin and the reduction of seismic risk.

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STAMATOPOULOS AND ASSOCIATES LTD
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