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Full-Text Articles in Geotechnical Engineering

Fault Box Modeling Of Dip Slip Faults: A Framework For Fault Box Design And Future Studies, Hailey Pressnell Jan 2025

Fault Box Modeling Of Dip Slip Faults: A Framework For Fault Box Design And Future Studies, Hailey Pressnell

Master's Theses

The behavior of soils during surface fault rupture is a serious concern in the planning and design of infrastructure that may be located within or near a fault zone. Challenges associated with developing mitigation measures for surface fault rupture include the uncertainty of fault rupture and the variability of fault behavior. Current analytical procedures define surface fault rupture according to the type of fault movement (strike slip, normal or reverse), the amount of displacement on the fault, and the mechanics of the material overlying the fault. The purpose of this thesis is to reconfirm analytical solutions and gain a better …


A Global Application Programming Interface-Enabled Earthquake Ground Motion Relational Database For Engineering Applications, Tristan E. Buckreis, Chukwuebuka C. Nweke, Pengfei Wang, Scott J. Brandenberg, Maria E. Ramos-Sepúlveda, Rashid Shams, Shako Mohammed, Renmin Pretell, Silvia Mazzoni, Paolo Zimmaro, Jonathan P. Steward Jan 2025

A Global Application Programming Interface-Enabled Earthquake Ground Motion Relational Database For Engineering Applications, Tristan E. Buckreis, Chukwuebuka C. Nweke, Pengfei Wang, Scott J. Brandenberg, Maria E. Ramos-Sepúlveda, Rashid Shams, Shako Mohammed, Renmin Pretell, Silvia Mazzoni, Paolo Zimmaro, Jonathan P. Steward

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a application programming interface (API)-enabled relational database of global earthquake ground motion intensity measures, associated metadata, and processed time-series data. Raw ground motion records were processed by the authors using either manual or semi-automated processing procedures, and every processed record has passed a quality review by a trained analyst. Computed intensity measures include peak acceleration and velocity, pseudo-spectral acceleration response spectra, cumulative absolute velocity, Arias Intensity, and Fourier amplitude spectra. The processed time-series data, associated metadata, and ground motion intensity measures were organized into a web-served relational database consisting of 32 tables connected by primary/foreign key pairs. Ground …


Liquefaction Case Histories From Oceano, California During The 2003 San Simeon Earthquake, Hayden Brake Jun 2024

Liquefaction Case Histories From Oceano, California During The 2003 San Simeon Earthquake, Hayden Brake

Master's Theses

On December 22nd, 2003, the Mw=6.5 San Simeon earthquake occurred 12 kilometers east of San Simeon, California, causing damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure throughout the central coast. The community of Oceano, 80 kilometers southeast of the epicenter, experienced damage to foundations, roads, and utilities due to liquefaction and lateral spreading. The unique geologic environment in Oceano caused a local amplification of ground motions, liquefaction, and lateral spreading. This study entailed developing ten liquefaction case histories from Oceano during the 2003 San Simeon earthquake. Four of the ten case histories are liquefaction cases and six are non-liquefaction cases, with …


Reliability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Ordinates, F. J. Ornelas, C. C. Nweke, C. A. De La Torre, P. Wang, T. D. Mai, B. R. Cox, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart Jan 2024

Reliability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Ordinates, F. J. Ornelas, C. C. Nweke, C. A. De La Torre, P. Wang, T. D. Mai, B. R. Cox, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (mHVSR) are frequency-dependent ratios of Fourier amplitude spectra of the horizontal to vertical components of a 3-component recording of ambient ground motions from microtremors. Results from mHVSR tests can identify the frequencies associated with site resonances at sites with large impedance contrasts, and hence have potential to provide useful parameters for predicting seismic site response. Site measurements are made by recording ground vibrations either from a temporarily deployed seismometer, typically recording for a relatively short period of time (~1-2 hrs.), or from a permanently-installed broadband seismometer. In this paper, we discuss ongoing work investigating the reliability …


Investigating The Viability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Estimates Using Deep Shear Wave Velocity Profile, T. Mai, C. C. Nweke, P. Wang, F. J. Ornelas Jan 2024

Investigating The Viability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Estimates Using Deep Shear Wave Velocity Profile, T. Mai, C. C. Nweke, P. Wang, F. J. Ornelas

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Site response describes the alterations of seismic energy due to its interaction with subsurface geological interfaces and structures, which is usually estimated by one dimensional (1D) ground response analysis (GRA). However, 1D GRA requires subsurface information (e.g., shear wave velocity profile), which makes it not widely applicable, particularly for the sites where subsurface information is unavailable. Alternatively, the microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (mHVSR) from three-component recordings of ambient noise on the ground surface is easily measured and is believed to have the potential for site response prediction (the peaks in mHVSR are strongly associated with the site resonant frequencies). However,the …


Taylor's Slope Stability Chart For Combined Effects Of Horizontal And Vertical Seismic Coefficients, Pragyan Sahoo, Sanjay Kumar Shukla Jan 2019

Taylor's Slope Stability Chart For Combined Effects Of Horizontal And Vertical Seismic Coefficients, Pragyan Sahoo, Sanjay Kumar Shukla

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Design standards and codes of practice on earth slope stability often recommend the pseudo-static method of analysis for determining the factor of safety of a slope subjected to seismic forces. In most pseudo-static methods of analysis, the horizontal seismic force is considered without due weightage to vertical seismic force. In the past, Taylor's stability chart for a homogeneous cohesive-frictional soil slope has been extended to consider the effect of horizontal seismic force only. In this paper, an attempt is made to develop an analytical formulation considering both horizontal and vertical seismic forces in order to estimate the factor of safety …


Prediction Of Shear Strength And Ductility Of Cyclically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Columns Using Artificial Intelligence, Nicholas Gordon May 2015

Prediction Of Shear Strength And Ductility Of Cyclically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Columns Using Artificial Intelligence, Nicholas Gordon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The shear strength and deformation capacities of reinforced concrete (RC) columns are governed by a multitude of variables related to material properties of the steel and concrete used in the design and construction of the columns. Predicting performance of RC columns using design variables is a complex, non-linear problem. The prediction of shear strength and ductility for these types of structural members has historically been performed using empirically or semi-empirically derived formulae based on experimental results. The introduction of cyclical lateral loading, such as the forces imposed on a structure during an earthquake, can result in severe degradation of shear …


Earthquake Load Attenuation Using Eps Geofoam Buffers In Rigid Wall Applications, Richard J. Bathurst, S Zarnani Jan 2013

Earthquake Load Attenuation Using Eps Geofoam Buffers In Rigid Wall Applications, Richard J. Bathurst, S Zarnani

Research outputs 2013

The paper is a synthesis of previously published work by the authors that is focused on the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam buffers for seismic load attenuation against rigid basement and soil retaining walls. The paper begins with a brief description of the first documented field application followed by a description of physical 1 m-high reduced-scale shaking table tests that provided the first "proof of concept". Next, details of the development and verification of a displacement-based model and a FLAC numerical model are described and simulation results that were verified against the physical shaking table tests presented. The numerical …