"Physics-Informed Semi-Empirical Probabilistic Models for Predicting building Settlement and Tilt on Liquefiable Ground" by Prof. Shideh Dashti (University of Colorado Boulder)

Seminar overview:
The presentation introduces predictive models for the seismic settlement and tilt of shallowfounded structures on liquefiable ground based on an integrated observational, experimental, numerical and statistical approach. A series of centrifuge experiments were performed to evaluate the dominant mechanisms of deformation near shallow founded structures.
Experimental results were used to evaluate the predictive capabilities of 3D, fully coupled nonlinear dynamic finite element analyses of soil-structure interaction systems in OpenSees. Then a numerical parametric study (exceeding 63,000 simulations) was used to identify the most optimum Intensity Measures for permanent building settlement and tilt as well as the functional form of predictive models. Finally, a case history database helped validate and refine the models, accounting for field complexities not captured numerically or experimentally.

Biography:
Shideh Dashti is an Associate Professsor in Geotechnical Engineering and Geomechanics at the University of Colorado Boulder. She obtained her undergraduate degree at Cornell University and her graduate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley. Shideh worked briefly with ARUP and Bechtel on several projects in the US and around the world involving the design of foundation systems, slopes, and underground structures. Her research team at Colorado
Boulder studies: (1) interactions and interdependencies among different infrastructure systems during earthquakes and other types of disasters (2) consequences and mitigation of the liquefaction hazard facing structures in isolation and in dense urban settings.

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