BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Physical Modeling of Critical Infrastructure Systems Subjected to 
 Natural Hazards - Prof Tarek Abdoun\, Associate Professor at the Civil &am
 p\; Environmental Engineering Department\, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institut
 e\, New York
DTSTART:20080801T140000Z
DTEND:20080801T150000Z
UID:TALK12796@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Zelda Stuck
DESCRIPTION:Natural and man-made hazards are often associated with very co
 stly damage to civil infrastructure systems such as bridges\, levees\, dam
 s\, buried pipes\, and buildings of all types. The lack of high quality fi
 eld and/or lab data of soil response has eluded researchers and practition
 ers until recently and has thus hindered the development of reliable tools
  to predict phenomena such as site liquefaction\, landslides and failure. 
 Recent enhancement of physical modeling facilities (centrifuge & full scal
 e) and advancement in sensing technology are leading to a new reality for 
 testing and monitoring of soil-structure systems. This state of affair wil
 l eventually lead to a paradigm shift in the evaluation and modeling of th
 e seismic response of soil systems. Physical modeling and computational si
 mulations are destined to become more prominent than empirical approaches 
 and will ultimately become the main tool for analysis and design of soil s
 ystems.\n\nThe results of two research programs utilizing physical modelin
 g to simulate the hazards effects of two types of natural disasters will b
 e presented. \n1.	The performance of New Orleans flood protection system d
 uring hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the levees i
 n New Orleans are considered the worst natural disaster in the history of 
 the US\, producing extensive loss of lives and economic impact. Current ph
 ysical modeling activities supporting the rebuilding of New Orleans Levees
  will be also discussed.\n2.	Liquefaction induced Lateral Spreading Effect
  on Pile Foundations. The presentation will focus on advanced research cur
 rently being conducted jointly by researchers at RPI (small scale testing)
  & University of Buffalo (full scale testing) and its practical implicatio
 ns. \n\n
LOCATION:Engineering Department - LR6
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR