HAI‘s engineers and scientists have been involved in research and development of innovative analysis methods and systems in the fields of geotechnical earthquake engineering. The following research topics have been investigated by HAI:
- Seismic response of underground reservoir structures
- Seismic response of landfills
- Dynamic response of hydraulic fills and rock dikes in ports
- Dynamic earth pressures on underground structures and bridge abutments
- Cyclic and dynamic loading response of pile foundations and gravity based offshore platforms
- Geosynthetic base isolation systems
- Physical modeling of soil-structure systems using shake tables and geotechnical centrifuges
- Development of new generation of dynamic pore pressure transducers
- First Laminar Box and hydraulic shaker for dynamic centrifuge modelling
- Large scale dynamic testing of prototype structures (bridges, dams, tall buildings)
- High stress triaxial testing equipment
HAI has many years of experience in numerical and physical modeling of geotechnical and soil-structure systems. We instrumented the first landfill in the world (OII Landfill, a superfund site) with seismic stations and recorded its response during several earthquakes in southern California. HAI developed a new generation of dynamic pore pressure transducers (Caltech Piezometer) for studying response of liquefiable soils during earthquakes. As part of a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) investigation funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), HAI developed a new base isolation system using low frictional properties of geosynthetic materials embedded in subgrade soils of building foundations. HAI has performed advanced research projects for Caltrans, CGS, US Navy, oil and gas industry, NSF, USGS, USACE, DOE, and USEPA.
