Centrifuge testing of soil–structure interaction effects on cyclic failure potential of fine-grained soil

Abstract

We describe two experiments performed on a 9-m-radius geotechnical centrifuge to evaluate dynamic soil–structure interaction effects on the cyclic failure potential of fine-grained soil. Each experiment incorporated three different structures with a range of mass and stiffness properties. Structures were founded on strip footings embedded in a thin layer of sand overlying lightly overconsolidated low-plasticity fine-grained soil. Shaking was applied to the base of the model container, consisting of scaled versions of recorded earthquake ground motions, sweep motions, and step waves. Data recorded during testing were processed and published on the platform DesignSafe. We describe the model configuration, sensor information, shaking events, and data processing procedures and present selected processed data to illustrate key model responses and to provide a benchmark for data use.