21st Jennings Lecture 2024

Significant progress has been made in recent years in advancing the resiliency of infrastructure to earthquakes. The first and arguably most important step to reliably analyze the seismic response of infrastructure is the characterization of the site conditions and, particularly, the proper characterization of the dynamic properties of subsurface soils. In this presentation, a review of the fundamental dynamic properties of soils will be provided.

Emphasis will be given to laying out an integrated approach for site characterization that leverages field observations, in-situ testing, and laboratory testing. Characteristic examples from several research and consulting projects will be presented on the characterization of the dynamic properties of soils and the field or laboratory testing conducted.

Examples will also be provided of “non-textbook” types of soils where a more careful characterization of the material behavior was necessary to verify its similarity and differences with more common soils.

Dimitrios Zekkos, PhD, PE, is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also the founding partner of ARGO-E GROUP, an infrastructure analytics company. Dimitrios received his undergraduate degree from the University of Patras in Greece and his MSc and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining Berkeley in 2020 as a Faculty Member, Dimitrios worked at a consulting company in

the San Francisco Bay Area and was a faculty member at the University of Michigan. His research work focuses on the resiliency of geo-infrastructure due to natural hazards. He has deployed following disasters in many areas including the USA, Nepal, New Zealand, Japan, Dominica and Greece following natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and monsoons.

His research approach often employs coupled experimental and computational approaches to characterize the response of the geo-environment and infrastructure to natural hazards. His research has been recognized with several research Awards by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). He presently serves as a member of the Board of the ISSMGE.

Prev

1of2

Next