Seismic Impact on Tunnels

REU: Underground Infrastructure REU | AUTHOR: Abdur Rahaman – Lehigh University

MENTOR: Paolo Bocchini – Lehigh University

ABSTRACT

Fragility curves are to be developed to take into account the seismic effect on tunnels. This risk analysis has been greatly disregarded, which led to the development of this research. With regards to bridge design, seismic loads are taken into heavy consideration. However, it is almost completely ignored in tunnel design. The need for accurate fragility curves, consideration of fragility curves for tunnel design, and the overall seismic impact (if any) on tunnels are the desired research objectives for this project.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Abdur Rahaman is a Civil Engineering senior at Hofstra University, who will be graduating in a week! He is also minoring in Mathematics, attending this REU program for the summer. He delved into the world of seismic loadings and impacts on the tunnel facet of the transportation system. Under the supervision and tutelage of Professor Bocchini and Liyang Ma, he covered fragility curves, its derivation, the HAZUS and ArcGIS softwares, and a number scientific literature reviews all in the short ten weeks!