Description

This course addresses the dynamic properties of soils and basic mechanical theory of dynamic response. It will apply these results to analysis and design of dynamically loaded foundations. A basic understanding of earthquakes - where they occur, their quantitate description, how the complicated patterns of motions are captured by techniques such as the response spectrum, and how engineers design facilities to withstand earthquakes, will be addressed. In particular, the course will consider three topics of current professional and research interest: probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PHSA), soil liquefaction, and seismically induced displacements. The emphasis will be on geotechnical issues, but some time will be devoted to structural considerations in earthquake resistant design.