Seismic Performance of Soil-Foundation-Structure Systems

Seismic Performance of Soil-Foundation-Structure Systems presents invited papers presented at the international workshop (University of Auckland, New Zealand, 21-22 November 2016).

This international workshop brought together outstanding work in earthquake engineering that embraces a holistic consideration of soilfoundation-structure systems. For example, the diversity of papers in this volume is represented by contributions from the fields of shallow foundation in liquefiable soil, spatially distributed lifelines, bridges, clustered structures (see photo on front cover), sea floor seismic motion, multi-axial ground excitation, deep foundations, soil-foundation-structurefluid interaction, liquefaction-induced settlement and uplift with SFSI.

A fundamental knowledge gap is manifested by the isolated manner geotechnical and structural engineers work. A holistic consideration of soil-foundation-structures systems is only possible if civil engineers work collaboratively to the mutual benefit of all disciplines. Another gap occurs by the retarded application of up-to-date research findings in engineering design practices. Seismic Performance of Soil-Foundation-Structure Systems is the outcome from the recognized need to close this gap, since it has been observed that a considerable delay exists between published research findings and application of the principles revealed by the research.

Seismic Performance of Soil-Foundation-Structure Systems will be helpful in developing more understanding of the complex nature of responses these systems present under strong earthquakes, and will assist engineers in closing the gaps identified above.

Nawawi Chouw has extensive teaching and research experience in earthquake engineering. He led the University of Auckland Centre for Earthquake Engineering Research from 2011 to 2017. Prior to joining the University of Auckland he worked at universities in Germany, Japan and Australia. He was also invited to teach at several universities in Europe, China and Japan. He gained his doctorate in structure and soil dynamics from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. He has been awarded twice the Gledden Fellowship of the University of Western Australia, Fritz-Peter-Mueller Prize of the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany, the Best Research Award of Chugoku Denryoku Research Foundation, Japan, and received twice recognition for excellence in research supervision from Chinese Scholarship Council. He was invited by China Ministry of Education, NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Qatar Science Foundation, SA National Research Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service and by other European Research Institutions to assess applications. He was Guest Editor of a number of journals, e.g. Protective Structures, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. He is an associate editor of Frontiers in Build Environment – Earthquake Engineering and is an editorial board member of a number of international journals. He teaches the courses ‘Structural Dynamics’, ‘Advanced Structural Dynamics’ and ‘Dynamics of Structures in Earthquakes’.

Rolando Orense has extensive experience in research, teaching and consulting work on topics related to soil liquefaction, ground response analyses and soil-structure interaction during earthquakes through laboratory testing, physical modelling and numerical simulation. Prior to joining the University of Auckland, he worked at universities and consulting companies in the Philippines and in Japan. He has authored and edited three books and over 230 peer-reviewed papers in scholarly journals and international conference proceedings and over 60 technical reports. He received Best Research Paper Award, Business Plan Award and Technical Award from the Japanese Geotechnical Society. He has been involved in many post-earthquake reconnaissance investigations, all of which involved liquefaction-induced damage. Rolando currently teaches a post-graduate course in ‘Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering’.

Tam Larkin is an academic member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland. He has decades of teaching and research experiences in earthquake engineering including supervision of a large number of postgraduate students, especially in soil dynamics and seismology. He was recently awarded the Otto Glogau Prize of the New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering and the Geomechanics Prize of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society for the second time, respectively. He has recently become involved in research projects with a focus on the seismic performance of clustered structures and liquid storage tanks. He teaches the course ‘Earthquake Engineering’.