Introduction
The purpose of the course is to provide engineers with the practical application of Seismic Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction (SFSI) involving finite element methods (FEM) and other techniques. This course provides the practical aspects of the finite element method (FEM) for shallow foundation, deep foundation, retaining structures, deep excavation and tunnels. The course is meant for professionals from consulting firms, contractors, public agencies and universities, who are interested in applying advanced tools to practical geotechnical engineering.
Experts will give presentations on engineering applications, such as staged construction, excavations, tunnels, foundations, bridge abutment and embankments for both service loading and earthquake loading conditions, using finite element methods.
The course consists of a balanced mixture of presentations and hands-on computer analyses using the Plaxis and SAP2000 computer programs.
Subject Matter
The main subject of the course is to provide example designs of real projects using the finite element method (FEM) as a tool to address soil structure interaction, especially for seismic considerations. Many of transportation infrastructures require interaction analyses among different elements. A bridge foundation, for example, involves piles, surrounding soil, and bridge superstructure. The analysis of such a system would entails modeling for each of the elements accurately so that stress and deformation can be evaluated in a straight forward manner.
The course will cover the basic theory of the finite element method to complex soil-structure interaction problem for seismic analyses.
This course will highlight some of the modeling techniques used in the current state-of-the-art practice in designs of bridges, tunnels, retaining walls.
Format
Each day consists of a morning and an afternoon session. Each session deals with a specific topic and starts with a general presentation, followed by an introduction to the practical application and a hands-on computer exercise. At the end of each day, extra time is reserved to complete exercises and to discuss the computational results.
Benefits
After the course, participants will receive an official letter/ certificate about the number of Professional Development Hours (PDH) they have earned from this course.
Dates
August 20-24, 2007
Location
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Southern California (USC), Los AngelesCourse leaders
Professor J.P Bardet, USC
Dr. Anoosh Shamsabadi, Office of Earthquake Engineering, Caltrans, USA
Course administration