Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
inournumericalanalysistechniquesandourdesignprocedures.Recognizingthescarcity
of reconnaissance data and the need for elucidating the response mechanisms associ-
ated with actual structures, full-scale and near full-scale experimentation is becoming
an essential component of our research procedures. Such relatively expensive and time-
consuming testing approaches, in turn motivate collaboration and the undertaking of
research by expert teams covering experimentation, computational analysis/validation,
and for the state of practice implications. With the aid of modern IT tools, geogra-
phically distributed experimental facilities and researchers are able to work together and
capitalize on new and valuable data sets, of high relevance to full-scale seismic response
scenarios.
In this paper, the elements and capabilities of a representative set of such world-class
experimental facilities is presented. Examples of related collaborative research projects
are included forillustration.The facilities are grouped intothe categories:
1. Instrumentedtestsitestomonitorgroundresponse,structuralresponse,andtheasso-
ciated soil-structure interaction (SSI) mechanisms. Of such sites, the elements and
activitites of the Euroseis project in Greece, and the University of California, Santa
Barbara(UCSB)GeorgeE.BrownNetworkforEarthquakeEngineeringSimulation
(NEES) sites(Garner Valley and WildlifeRefuge inthe USA) are presented.
2. Mobile testing laboratories to exert dynamic excitation in-situ. Such facilities are
transportable to any appropriate site and/or structure, where high levels of shaking
maybeimpartedtodocumenttheresponseoffull-scaleandnearfull-scalesoil,SSI,
and structural behaviour. Of such facilities, the NEES shakers at the University of
California,LosAngeles(UCLA),andtheVibroseistrucksattheUniversityofTexas
at Austinarediscussed.
3. Large shake table facilities and large displacement containers provide the option to
exert high levels of shaking on full-scale or near full-scale models of ground layers,
and SSI scenarios. Foremost among such facilities today are the three-dimensional
(3D) E-Defense laboratory in Japan, the NEES Large High Performance Outdoor
Shake Table (LHPOST) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and the
NEES Large-displacement split container at Cornell University. Elements of these
facilitiesare briefly presented and discussed.
4. Providing convenience and increasing the practical range of testing scenarios, the
Centrifuge testing technique has been a resource to elucidate the mechanisms asso-
ciatedwithseismicperformanceofsoilandsoil-structuresystems.Inthispaper,the
facilitiesatCambridgeintheUK,LCPCinFrance,andtheNEEScentrifugetesting
seismic capabilities at the University of California, Davis (UCD), and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute(RPI) are discussed.
