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Fundamental aspects of earthquakes and faulting, terminology for characterisation of earthquake faults, locating earthquakes, and frequency of earthquake occurrence. Strong ground motion recording and analysis, characterisation of strong ground motion in terms of intensity measures and empirical prediction models. Seismic hazard analysis and the development of design ground motions. Selection and modification of as-recorded ground motions for input in seismic response history analyses. Theoretical considerations in wave propagation and seismic site response analysis. Simulation of strong ground motion time series using deterministic and stochastic methods.
The objective of this course is for students to develop an understanding of seismicity and earthquake-induced ground motions, and engineering approaches for modelling them for the purpose of seismic design. While this course does not have a clear precursor course in the Civil undergraduate degree, it is well aligned with Structural and Geotechnical courses such as ENCI423, ENCI429, and ENCI452. In particular, it is noted that the focus of topics in this course essentially provide the necessary ‘ground motion input’ for “ENEQ620: Advanced Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering”, and therefore ENEQ620 is strongly recommended in conjunction with this course.This is a postgraduate course, and as such it is expected that students will complete a significant amount of background reading of relevant textbooks and technical publications (journals etc.). The aim of the contact hours in this course are to consolidate students understanding of the relevant material and to provide the opportunity of engage with the lecturer and teaching assistants.
Understand the physical processes which cause earthquakes, the various terminologies which are used to characterize them, and the relationships describing the frequency of occurrence of earthquakes in a regional- and fault-specific context.Be able to characterize observed or simulated strong ground motions in terms of amplitude, frequency content, and duration; and predict ground motion characteristics using empirical and physics-based models.Understand, and be able to perform a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and determine design ground motion intensity measures.Select and modify recorded ground motions for use in dynamic seismic response analyses
Subject to approval of the Head of Department or the Programme Director.
ENCI617
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Assignments will be provided and completed during this timeframe. The final exam will be scheduled immediately following this timeframe (and subject to individual availability).
Brendon Bradley
We will use Slack as the primary means of collaboration and learning throughout this course. If you haven’t used Slack before you can find more info here: https://slack.com/intl/en-nz/help/articles/218080037-Getting-started-for-new-members(you will be added to the Slack channel following enrolment in the course).The basic outline of this Slack workspace involves the following channels:#admin - for misc queries about the course admin (i.e., non-technical items)#notes - contains the written content for the course: chapters, exercises, assignments, exametc.#eq-sources , #ground-motion , #seismic-hazard , #gm-selection - examples of topic-specificchannels that can be used for discussions associated with your queries as you learn thiscontent.#office-hours - consider this as a whiteboard to use for items that you want discussed atspecific office-hours that will be held#assignments - message board for specific queries on the assignments
The assessment for this paper will comprise two components – assignments, and the finalexam. The assignments will be used to ensure you have an adequate grasp of the theoreticalbasis of the taught material, particularly related to computational aspects. The final exam willfocus on theoretical and practical (but not simulation-intensive) aspects of the course.Notes:1. You cannot pass this course unless you achieve a mark of at least 40% in the final exam.2. All assignments must be submitted by the due date. Late submissions will not be accepted. If a student is unable to complete and submit an assignment by the deadline due to personal circumstances beyond their control they should discuss this with the lecturer involved as soon as possible (preferably prior to the due date).3. All assignments can be done individually or in pairs. If done in pairs (preferred) only a single submission for marking is required and both students receive the same mark. It is important that both students play an equal role in completing the assessment as the internal assessment is designed to prepare for the formal assessments (i.e. final exam).
This course is based on the textbook:Baker JW, Bradley BA, Stafford PJ. Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis. Cambridge University Press. 2021.A digital copy of this book is accessible through the University of Canterbury library. The physical (hardcover) book is also available for purchase from Cambridge University Press, Amazon etc.
At the conclusion of the course we will seek feedback from you on the success, or otherwise, of the course itself, and on the performance of the lecturers. This feedback is very important, both for the teaching team and the department, as we try to evaluate and improve this course. The comments you provide are taken seriously by the department and I thank you in advance for your contribution to our quality assurance processes.However, while the formal process I have described is important we would also appreciate informal feedback as the course progresses. So feel free to send us an email or drop by our offices if there are comments you think would be helpful.
Domestic fee $1,197.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
This course will not be offered if fewer than 5 people apply to enrol.
For further information see Civil and Natural Resources Engineering .