Basically I am pursuing my masters degree and I have interest in soil dynamics and earthquake engineering. One of the topics I have in my mind is behavior of earth dams during earthquakes. I want this topic for term paper, but I am willing to take it further.
Seismic analysis is interesting. It'd definitely be worthwhile understanding cyclic soil testing and then get to grips with some numerical models and methodologies.
Here is one. Under what circumstances must be present for a loaded building footing foundation to settle because of nearby vibrations, such as those from a railroad or compacting backfill to a trench nearby? I've seen a few cases where just compacting under-floor fill at new construction inside a building that the footings settled. Why? Apply that to fresh concrete being moved along with vibrators. What RPM and HP needed? Saturation?
What about soil-structure interaction behavior during seismic loading? Pile foundations or piled raft analysis in liquefiable areas? I am located in Japan and although lots of research has been done,these topics are always interesting...
