Double Lecture

Lecture One

Advances in the Assessment of Buildings Subjected to Earthquakes and Tsunami

Speaker

Prof. Tiziana Rossetto (Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, and Director of EPICentre, University College London, UK)

Synopsis

Currently, 8 out of the 10 most populous megacities in the world are vulnerable to severe earthquake damage, while 6 out of 10 are at risk of being severely affected by tsunami. To mitigate ground shaking and tsunami risks for coastal communities, reliable tools for assessing the effects of these hazards on coastal structures are needed. Methods for assessing the seismic performance of buildings and infrastructure are well established, allowing for seismic risk assessments to be performed with some degree of confidence. In the case of tsunami, structural assessment methodologies are much less developed. This stems partly from a general lack of understanding of tsunami inundation processes and flow inter-action with the built environment. This presentation brings together novel numerical and experimental work being carried out at UCL EPICentre and highlights advances made in defining tsunami loads for use in structural analysis, and in the assessment of buildings for tsunami loads. The results of this work demonstrate a conflict in the design targets for seismic versus tsunami-resistant structures, which raise questions on how to provide appropriate building resilience in coastal areas subjected to both these hazards.

Lecture Two

Use of High Gravity Centrifuge Tests to Investigate Soil Liquefaction Phenomena

Speaker

Prof. Gopal S. P. Madabhushi (Department of Engineering, Director of Schofield Centre and Head of Geotechnical Group, University of Cambridge, UK)

Synopsis

Soil liquefaction following earthquake events causes severe damage to Civil Engineering Infrastructure as witnessed in many of the recent earthquake events. High gravity centrifuge tests are able to simulate earthquake induced liquefaction in saturated soils and allow us to study the physics behind liquefaction phenomena and the behaviour of structures that are located on such sites. In this paper, the use of large scale testing facilities in studying the problems in geotechnical earthquake engineering will be highlighted. Soil liquefaction problems are used as a vehicle to illustrate the use of these large-scale testing facilities. Some of the recent investigations that were carried out at University of Cambridge will be presented. These include the novel testing that was carried out which involved creation of triaxial chambers within centrifuge models to delineate drainage effects on liquefiable soils. Direct comparisons are possible between free-field soil and the soil enclosed within the triaxial chamber. Similarly, the reduction in settlement of foundations on liquefiable soils due to air injection a priori to earthquake loading will be discussed. In addition to liquefaction problems, the use of centrifuge testing in relation to pile-soil interaction and use of viscous dampers in soil-structure systems using the large-scale testing facilities will be presented.

Further information

These two lectures are organised by SECED and chaired by Paul Doyle (Jacobs). The lectures will be held in the Thomas Telford Theatre in the ICE Headquarters in Westminster. Non-members of the society are welcome to attend. Attendance at the lectures is free. Seats are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be served from 5.30pm - 6pm. For further information, please contact Shelly-Ann Russell (tel. 020 7665 2147, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

This event will be broadcast online.

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