The Third United States - Japan Natural Resources (UJNR) Workshop on Soil-Structure Interaction

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action is to support the Third U.S.-Japan Workshop on Soil-Structure Interaction, to be held in California early in 2004. This workshop is organized under the auspices of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR) Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects. The UJNR was created in 1964 with the objective of exchanging information on research, as well as scientists and engineers, in the area of natural resources, for the benefit of both countries. The Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects was established in 1969. The purpose of these workshops has been to provide a platform to gather the experts in the field from both countries, to present their work, exchange ideas, identify future research needs, and discuss collaboration. This workshop will focus on soil-structure interaction, and will benefit from two significant developments: The initiation of NSF George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), and the initiation of the Advanced National Seismic Systems (ANSS) by United States Geological Survey (USGS). The ANSS will advance and modernize the national, regional and urban earthquake monitoring and rapid post-earthquake information delivery process. Both of these complementary national initiatives explicitly address the problem of soil-structure interaction. Soil-structure interaction is a complex problem at the intersection of three disciplines: structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, and engineering seismology. Observations have shown that soil-structure interaction can affect significantly the performance of structures during strong earthquake shaking. Progress in the understanding and modeling of this phenomenon will lead to improvements in building design practices, and to safer construction and the reduction of loss of life and of economic losses from earthquakes.