In this volume, top seismic experts and researchers from Europe and around the world, including the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) in the USA, present the most recent outcome of their work in experimental testing, as well as the results of the transnational access activities of external researchers who have used Europe's seven largest and most advanced seismic testing facilities in the framework of the Seismic Engineering Research Infrastructures for European Synergies (SERIES) Project financed by the European Commission in its 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013). This includes EU’s largest reaction wall facility, EU's four largest shaking table laboratories and its two major centrifuges. The work presented includes state-of-the-art research towards the seismic design, assessment and retrofitting of structures, as well as the development of innovative research toward new fundamental technologies and techniques promoting efficient and joint use of the research infrastructures. The contents of this volume demonstrate the fruits of the effort of the European Commission in supporting research in earthquake engineering.

As geological threats become more imminent, society must make a major commitment to increase the resilience of its communities, infrastructure, and citizens. Recent earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, Haiti, and Chile provide stark reminders of the devastating impact major earthquakes have on the lives and economic stability of millions of people worldwide. The events in Haiti continue to show that poor planning and governance lead to long-term chaos, while nations like Chile demonstrate steady recovery due to modern earthquake planning and proper construction and mitigation activities. At the request of the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council hosted a two-day workshop to give members of the community an opportunity to identify "Grand Challenges" for earthquake engineering research that are needed to achieve an earthquake resilient society, as well as to describe networks of earthquake engineering experimental capabilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that could continue to address ongoing areas of concern. Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research: A Community Workshop Report explores the priorities and problems regions face in reducing consequent damage and spurring technological preparedness advances. Over the course of the Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research workshop, 13 grand challenge problems emerged and were summarized in terms of five overarching themes including: community resilience framework, decision making, simulation, mitigation, and design tools. Participants suggested 14 experimental facilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that would be needed to carry out testing, observations, and simulations, and to analyze the results. The report also reviews progressive steps that have been made in research and development, and considers what factors will accelerate transformative solutions.

As geological threats become more imminent, society must make a major commitment to increase the resilience of its communities, infrastructure, and citizens. Recent earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, Haiti, and Chile provide stark reminders of the devastating impact major earthquakes have on the lives and economic stability of millions of people worldwide. The events in Haiti continue to show that poor planning and governance lead to long-term chaos, while nations like Chile demonstrate steady recovery due to modern earthquake planning and proper construction and mitigation activities. At the request of the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council hosted a two-day workshop to give members of the community an opportunity to identify "Grand Challenges" for earthquake engineering research that are needed to achieve an earthquake resilient society, as well as to describe networks of earthquake engineering experimental capabilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that could continue to address ongoing areas of concern. Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research: A Community Workshop Report explores the priorities and problems regions face in reducing consequent damage and spurring technological preparedness advances. Over the course of the Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research workshop, 13 grand challenge problems emerged and were summarized in terms of five overarching themes including: community resilience framework, decision making, simulation, mitigation, and design tools. Participants suggested 14 experimental facilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that would be needed to carry out testing, observations, and simulations, and to analyze the results. The report also reviews progressive steps that have been made in research and development, and considers what factors will accelerate transformative solutions.

This project is a continuation of earlier research work by the Principal Investigator in support of the Earthquake Engineering Research Program, under the direction of the USAE Waterways Experiment Station at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The program of experiments investigating the earthquake behavior and liquefaction of deep sand deposits has generated a large body of data for analysis. This Final Technical Report describes the database that has been developed to date and presents the analysis and the initial conclusions of the study. Data of excess pore pressures at different depths is used to deduce the onset of liquefaction under different initial effective overburden stresses. The object of the research is to compute the factor K(sigma), widely used in design calculations to relate the liquefaction resistance at high effective confining stresses to the strength deduced from laboratory experiments at 1 tsf. By comparing the data obtained from the centrifuge experiments with standard design approaches for the prediction of liquefaction, an assessment of the relationship between K(sigma) and depth can be made. This is discussed and areas where further experimental work is required are highlighted. The results are also presented in the form of log-log (stress focus) plots and compared with laboratory element test data. Preliminary conclusions indicate that the centrifuge data more closely match relationships based on field experience than laboratory data.

Based on the Lectures given during the Eurocourse on Experimental and Numerical Methods in Earthquake Engineering held at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy, October 7-11, 1991