Validation of Computational Liquefaction: Tar Island

Speaker: Michael Jefferies, BGC Engineering, Vancouver

Seminar overview:
Finite element analysis using critical state theory proved necessary to understand four recent large dam failures. However, those failures involved complex conditions with many judgments and thus are hardly true validations of the theory. This seminar will cover the entire approach from tests to computation for s simple dead-load liquefaction: the 1974 failure at Tar Island.

Biography:
Mike has 50 years of experience in offshore platforms, dams, and ground improvement. Pursuing an interest in theoretical soil mechanics, despite working as a consulting engineer, he derived the general form of critical state theory. Contributions include some 80 papers and the book Soil Liquefaction: A Critical State Approach, attracting more than 9000 citations.