SHEAR MODULUS Gs.

Abstract

A study group of the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering has recently completed recommendations for the seismic design of storage tanks in a form suitable for use as a code. A knowledge of site response is an integral part of seismic analysis, unfortunately providing guidelines on assigning relevant soil parameters (shear modulus and damping in particular) cannot easily be resolved in a code format. However, as shear modulus (G//s) is referred to directly in the recommendations, it was decided to provide this technical note to enable some guidelines for its assessment to be given. Discussed are shear modulus values for sands and for clays.