Centrifuge Modeling Studies of Site Response in Soft Clay over Wide Strain Range
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 2
Abstract
Centrifuge models of soft-clay deposits were shaken with suites of earthquake ground motions to study site response over a wide strain range. The models were constructed in an innovative hinged-plate container to effectively reproduce one-dimensional ground-response boundary conditions. Dense sensor arrays facilitate back-calculation of modulus-reduction and damping values that show modest misfits from empirical models. Low-amplitude base motions produced nearly elastic response in which ground motions were amplified through the soil column, and the fundamental site period was approximately 1.0 s. High-intensity base motions produced shear strains higher than 10%, mobilizing shear failure in clay at stresses larger than the undrained monotonic shear strength. The authors attribute these high mobilized stresses to rate effects, which should be considered in strength-parameter selection for nonlinear analysis. This nonlinear response deamplified short-period spectral accelerations and lengthened the site period to 3.0 s. The nonlinearity in spectral amplification is parameterized in a form used for site terms in ground-motion prediction equations to provide empirical constraint unavailable from ground-motion databases.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Alek Harounian, DongSoon Park, and Lijun Deng for assistance constructing and testing the centrifuge models and NEES @ UCDavis personnel, including Dan Wilson, Ross Boulanger, Bruce Kutter, Chad Justice, Ray Gerhard, Peter Rojas, Lars Pederson, Anatoliy Ganchenko, and Jenny Chen, for their assistance during this sometimes difficult project. Funding for this work was provided by the United States Geological Survey under Contract No. 08HQGR0037. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the United States federal government. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. This material is based on research performed in a renovated collaboratory by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0963183, which is an award funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 2 • February 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 14, 2012
Accepted: Jul 24, 2013
Published online: Jul 26, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Apr 12, 2014
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