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Although there is enough knowledge indicating on the influence of frequency content of input motion on the deformation demand of structures, state-of-the-practice seismic studies use the intensity measures such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) which are not frequency dependent. The v max/a max ratio of strong ground motions can be used in seismic hazard studies as the representative of frequency content of the motions. This ratio can be indirectly estimated by the attenuation models of PGA and PGV which are functions of earthquake magnitude, source to site distance, faulting mechanism, and local site conditions. This paper presents new predictive equations for v max/a max ratio based on genetic programming (GP) approach. The predictive equations are established using a reliable database released by Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) for three types of faulting mechanisms including strikeslip, normal and reverse. The proposed models provide reasonable accuracy to estimate the frequency content of site ground motions in practical projects. The results of parametric study demonstrate that v max/a max increases through increasing earthquake moment magnitude and source to site distance while it decreases with increasing the average shear-wave velocity over the top 30m of the site.

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Ground differential movements due to faulting have been observed to cause damage to engineered structures

and facilities. Although surface fault rupture is not a new problem, there are only a few building codes in the world

containing some type of provisions for reducing the risks. Fault setbacks or avoidance of construction in the proximity

to seismically active faults, are usually supposed as the first priority. In this paper, based on some 1-g physical

modelling tests, clear perspectives of surface fault rupture propagation and its interaction with shallow rigid

foundations are presented. It is observed that the surface fault rupture could be diverted by massive structures seated

on thick soil deposits. Where possible the fault has been deviated by the presence of the rigid foundation, which

remained undisturbed on the footwall. It is shown that the setback provision does not give generally enough assurance

that future faulting would not threaten the existing structures.

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Laboratory data, which relate the liquefaction resistance of Firoozkooh sand and non-plastic silt mixtures to shear wave velocity are

presented and compared to liquefaction criteria derived from seismic field measurements by Andrus and Stokoe [1]. In the work

described herein, cyclic triaxial and resonant column tests were conducted on specimens of clean sand and sand-silt mixtures with silt

content up to 60%, prepared at different densities. Cyclic undrained strength and small strain shear wave velocity were determined

for identical specimens formed by undercompaction method. It was found that silt content affects cyclic resistance and shear wave

velocity. In addition, the laboratory results indicated that using the existing field-based correlations will overestimate the cyclic

resistance of the Firoozkooh sand-silt mixtures when silt content is 60%. For clean sand and the specimens containing up to 30% fines,

results of this study on cyclic resistance are fairly consistent with Andrus and Stokoe correlations. These findings suggest the need for

further evaluation of the effects of non-plastic fines content upon liquefaction criteria derived from seismic field measurements.

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Shear modulus and damping ratio are important input parameters in dynamic analysis. A series of resonant column tests was

carried out on pure clays and sand-clay mixtures prepared at different densities to investigate the effects of aggregate content,

confining stress, void ratio and clay plasticity on the maximum shear modulus and minimum damping ratio. Test results revealed

an increase in the maximum shear modulus of the mixture with the increase in sand content up to 60%, followed by a decrease

beyond this value. It was also found that the maximum shear modulus increases with confining stress, and decreases with void

ratio. In addition, minimum damping ratio increases with sand content and clay plasticity and decreases with confining stress.

Finally, on the basis of the test results, a mathematical model was developed for the maximum shear modulus.

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A series of tests and also numerical analyses were conducted to explore the mechanical behavior of a mixture of coarse gravelsize
particles floating in a matrix of silt, sand or clay. The research is a step forward in an ongoing investigation on behavior of
composite clay, which is used as the core material of some large embankment dams all over the world. After providing the reader
with an overall image about behavior of such materials through the literature, the paper focuses on a predominant feature of the
composite soil behavior: increase of non-deformable solid inclusions in a mixture leads to formation of heterogeneity of stress
field, excess pore water pressure and strain distribution along the specimens. This paper mainly probes formation of such
heterogeneity by the aid of special experiments and also numerical analyses. In addition to loading details, it is clarified through
the paper that position of inclusions relative to loading direction also affects heterogeneity of stress/strain and excess pore water
pressure distribution through the mixture. Despite the former, the latter redistributes with a rate proportional to material
hydraulic conductivity.

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Spatial Variation of Earthquake Ground Motion (SVEGM) is clearly indicated in data recorded at dense seismographic arrays

The main purpose of this paper is to study the influence of SVEGM on the seismic response of large embankment dams. To this

end, the Masjed Soleyman embankment dam, constructed in Iran is selected as a numerical example. The spatially varying ground

motion time histories are generated using spectral representation method. According to this methodology, the generated time

histories are compatible with prescribed response spectra and reflect the wave passage and loss of coherence effects. To

investigate the sensitivity of the dam responses to the degree of incoherency, three different coherency models are used to simulate

spatially variable seismic ground motions. Finally, the seismic response of the dam under multi-support excitation is analyzed

and compared to that due to uniform ground motion. Also, the Newmark's method is used to estimate seismic-induced permanent

displacements of the embankment dam. The analysis results reveal that the dam responses can be sensitive to the assumed spatial

variation of ground motion along its base. As a general trend, it is concluded that the use of multi-support excitation, which is

more realistic assumption, results in lower acceleration and displacement responses than those due to uniform excitation.

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In this paper, an advanced formulation of a time-domain two-dimensional boundary element method (BEM) is presented and

applied to calculate the response of a buried, unlined, and infinitely long cylindrical cavity with a circular cross-section subjected

to SV and P waves. The applicability and efficiency of the algorithm are verified with frequency-domain BEM examples of the

effect of cylindrical cavities on the site response analysis. The analysis results show that acceptable agreements exist between

results of this research and presented examples. For a shallow cavity, the numerical results demonstrate that vertically incident

SV wave reduces the horizontal components of the motion on the ground surface above the cavity, while it significantly increases

the vertical component for a dimensionless frequency (&eta) of 0.5 and h/a=1.5. The maximum values of normalized displacements

in vertical component of P waves are larger than horizontal component of SV waves for &eta=1.0. For a deeply embedded cavity,

the effect of the cavity on the surface ground motion is negligible for incident SV wave, but it increases the vertical component of

the displacement for incident P wave. Additionally, far and near distances from the center of the cavity show different amplitude

patterns of response due to the cavity effect. Increasing the distance from the center of the cavity, the amplitude of displacement

and the effect of the cavity attenuates significantly.

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During past earthquakes, many instances of building damage as a result of earthquake surface fault rupture have been observed.

The results of investigating a potential mitigation scheme are presented in this paper. Such plan provides a wall in the soil with

the aim of surface displacement localization in the narrow pre-determined location. This may reduce the risk of the future rupture

downstream the wall. To evaluate the efficiency of the method, this paper (i) provides validation through successful class “A”

predictions of 1g model tests for fault deviation by weak wall and (ii) conducts sensitivity analyses on fault position, fault offset

and wall shear strength. It is shown that wall can be designed to deviate rupture path even downstream of the wall can be

protected.

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In this paper, an advanced formulation of time-domain, two-dimensional Boundary Element Method (BEM) with material damping is presented. Full space two-dimensional visco-elastodynamic time-convoluted kernels are proposed in order to incorporate proportional damping. This approach is applied to carry out site response analysis of viscoelastic topographic structures subjected to SV and P incident waves. Seismic responses of horizontally layered site, semi-circular canyons, slope topography and ridge sections subjected to these incident waves are analyzed in order to demonstrate the accuracy of the kernels and the applicability of the presented viscoelastic boundary element algorithm. The results show an excellent agreement with recent published results obtained in frequency domain. Also, the effects of different material damping ratios on site response are investigated.

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This paper presents time domain fundamental solutions for the extended Biot's dynamic formulations of two-dimensional (2D) unsaturated poroelasticity. Unsaturated porous media is considered as a porous media in which the voids are saturated with two immiscible fluids, i.e. liquid and gas. At first, the corresponding explicit Laplace transform domain fundamental solution is obtained in terms of skeleton displacements, as well as liquid and gas pressures. Subsequently, the closed-form time domain fundamental solutions are derived by analytical inversion of the Laplace transform domain solutions. Finally, a set of numerical results are presented which verifies the accuracy of the analytically inversed transient fundamental solution and demonstrates some salient features of the elastic waves in unsaturated media..

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In this paper, normalized displacement amplitude of the ground surface was presented in the presence of the semi-sine shaped valley above the truncated circular cavity embedded in a homogenous isotopic linear elastic half-plane, subjected to obliquely propagating incident SH waves as Ricker wavelet type. The proposed direct time-domain half-plane boundary element formulation was used and extended to analyze the combined multi-boundary topographic problems. While using it, only boundary of the valley and the surrounding cavity should be discretized. The effect of four geometric parameters including shape ratio of the valley, depth ratio, horizontal location ratio and truncation thickness of the cavity and incident wave angle was investigated on the responses at a single dimensionless frequency. The studies showed that surface behavior was completely different due to complex topographic features, compared with the presence of either valley or cavity alone. In addition, the cavity existence below the surface could play a seismic isolation role in the case of vertical incident waves and vice versa for oblique waves.

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It is well-known that the behavior of soil-structure systems can be well described using a limited number of non-dimensional parameters. This is the outcome of researches based on the premise that the foundation is bonded to the ground. Here, it is shown the concept can be extended to systems with foundation uplift. A set of non-dimensional parameters are introduced which controls the main features of uplifting systems. The effect of foundation uplift on response of soil-structure systems are investigated parametrically through time history analysis for a wide range of systems subjected to ground motions recorded on different soil types. In particular, the effects of uplift on displacement ratio, defined as the ratio of maximum displacement of the uplifting system to that of the elastic system without uplifting and drift ratio, defined as the ratio of maximum drift of the structure as a part of uplifting soil-structure system to that of the elastic system without uplifting, are investigated. It is observed that in general foundation uplift reduces the drift response of structures, which in turn, results in lower base shear. The reduction reaches about 35 percent for slender structures located on relatively soft soils subjected to strong ground motions. Simplified expressions are suggested to estimate this reduction in the base shear.

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In this paper, an advanced formulation of the spectral finite element method (SFEM) is presented and applied in order to carry out site response analysis of 2D topographic structures subjected to vertically propagating incident in-plane waves in time-domain. The accuracy, efficiency and applicability of the formulation are demonstrated by solving some wave scattering examples. A numerical parametric study has been carried out to study the seismic response of rectangular alluvial valleys subjected to vertically propagating incident SV waves. It is shown that the amplification pattern of the valley and its frequency characteristics depend strongly on its shape ratio. The natural frequency of the rectangular alluvial valley decreases as the shape ratio of the valley decreases. The maximum amplification ratio along the ground surface occurs at the center of the valley. A simple formula has been proposed for making initial estimation of the natural period of the valley in site effect microzonation studies.

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Due to the existence of fibrous materials such as plastic fragments, the strength anisotropy of Municipal Solid Waste

(MSW) materials is the main source of differences between their mechanical response in direct shear and triaxial apparatus.

As an extension of earlier research on the mechanical behavior of MSW using a large traixail apparatus, results presented in

Shariatmadari et al. [1] and Karimpour-Fard et al. [2], the current study was programmed and executed. MSW samples were

tested using a computer controlled large shear box apparatus with normal stress levels ranging between 20 to 200 kPa. The

effect of fiber content, fiber orientation, aging and shearing rate on the response of MSW were addressed. The results showed

that shear strength of MSW increases with normal stress, although, in spite of the presence of reinforcement elements in MSW

and unlike the results from triaxial tests, no strain hardening could be observed in their mechanical response. An increase in

the shear strength of MSW was observed with increasing the shearing rate. Increasing the shearing rate from 0.8 to 19

mm/min, enhanced the shear strength of samples from 16 to 27% depending on the shear displacement level. Although, the

same trend was investigated in traixial tests, but lower rate-sensitivity in the mechanical response of MSW in direct shear tests

were observed.

Unlike the results of triaxial tests with aging process, mobilized shear strength level of MSW samples tested under direct

shearing decreased comparing fresh samples. It was also observed that altering the fiber content and their orientation could

affect the mechanical response and shear strength of the MSW. Additionally, there is an optimum fiber angle in MSW which

yields the highest level of shearing strength.

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Experimental study of the cyclic behavior of unsaturated materials is more complex than that of the saturated materials due to the required equipment, experience and time. Furthering investigations in the field of unsaturated materials is necessary to better understand its complexity and sensitivity of unsaturated cyclic parameters to different determinants such as suction path, stress path, loading speed, deviatoric stress amplitude, physical specifications, and etc. To this end, the main focus of this study has been to analyze the effects of factors such as mean net stress and deviatoric stress levels in fast cyclic loading on the cyclic behavior of a normally consolidated unsaturated fine-grained trade soil, namely the Zenoz kaolin. Various unsaturated tests were performed in three mean net stress levels and three amplitudes of cyclic deviatoric stress levels. Results showed that increase of suction in the same strain level leads to increase in stiffness in normally consolidated samples (i.e. increase in elastic modulus and shear modulus and decrease in damping ratio). Also, in the same suction value and strain level, increase of the mean net stress during the isotropic consolidation causes to the denser normally consolidated samples and results to increase of elastic modulus and shear modulus, and decrease of damping ratio.

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Currently, there is no reliable design procedure which considers all aspects of liquefaction effects on shallow foundations. There are many light and heavy structures resting on saturated sand with high liquefaction potential in seismic areas. The aim of this experimental and numerical study is to evaluate the performance of two shallow foundations with different contact pressures in liquefaction. The results of the centrifuge experiment of shallow foundations with surcharges of three-story and nine-story buildings on liquefiable sand are presented in detail. Although entire soil profile liquefied, no liquefaction observed under the foundations. There was a clear difference in settlement mechanisms observed beneath the shallow foundation and in the free-field. The heavy foundation fluctuated more strongly compared with the lighter one. The effect of soil permeability and contact pressure on foundation response was investigated during numerical study. The experiment was simulated two dimensionally using a fully coupled nonlinear constitutive model (UBCSAND) implemented in a finite difference program, FLAC-2D. The results show that settlement of foundations increased with the increase of soil permeability. Trends of excess pore water pressure were captured reasonably by the soil model, but the settlement mechanisms were different. The soil model underestimated total liquefaction-induced settlement of shallow foundation, especially for light foundation.