Dynamic Response of Foundation Components through Full-scale Field Tests

PI: Dr. Prishati Raychowdhury 

The objective of this research is to carry out field tests on full-scale foundations to understand the behavior of rocking shallow foundations under seismic loading. An eccentric mass shaker will be procured for this purpose. The mass shaker will be used to excite structural and/or foundation components, while the responses of the footing and nearby soil will be measured using acceleration and displacement sensors. Instrumentation will include strain gauges, accelerometers and displacement transducers. The measured responses of the footing and surrounding soil are expected to shed light on following behavior of the soil-foundation interface: nonlinear force-deformation behavior, strength and stiffness degradation, kinematic interaction, hysteretic and radiation damping contribution, gap formation, and so on. The results of the experiments will be used to validate and update the existing theoretical models for predicting soil-foundation interface.