Teaching and research in earthquake engineering are central activities in the Structural Engineering and Geomechanics Program of Stanford’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Earthquake research activities at Stanford date back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which severely damaged the campus and which was extensively studied by several Stanford professors. In subsequent decades, earth sciences and engineering professors and students at Stanford have continued to make important contributions to the field.

The John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center

Blume Center students testing the design and behavior of concrete structures

The central facility for Stanford’s students and scholars who are active in earthquake engineering is the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, founded in 1974 to promote research and education in earthquake engineering through an endowment from Dr. John A. Blume. The Blume Center has a strong commitment to serve the profession and the public in reducing earthquake risk as well as supporting the academic community’s needs.

The Blume Center conducts research, provides instruction, publishes reports and articles, conducts seminars, workshops, and conferences, and provides partial financial support for students. The Center has published over one hundred research reports and has organized major conferences such as the Second U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (1979) and the 4th International Conference on Seismic Zonation (1991). Occupying a one thousand square meter building, the Blume Center provides office space for researchers, a library and conference/multimedia room, two classrooms, a structural testing laboratory, an advanced sensing research laboratory, and a geotechnical laboratory. Machine shop and technician support for the laboratories is provided through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The Blume Center's structural laboratory contains closed-loop servo-hydraulic equipment for static and dynamic testing of materials, structural subassemblies and components, and small-scale structures, two shaking tables, two universal testing machines (90 kN and 220 kN), and a 50 square meter reaction floor area and actuators for testing of structural subassemblies and components. A desktop shake table and 5 kN testing machine are also available for educational demonstration labs. The lab facility is serviced by a 110 lpm hydraulic system with a MTS-Testar IIm digital controller, and a National Instruments data acquisition system.

Research in the Advanced Sensing Laboratory focuses on interdisciplinary research and development of sensing devices utilizing wireless, fiber-optics, and MEMS-based technologies and the application of these for damage detection, structural health monitoring and control. Current efforts include the development of Wireless Modular Monitoring Systems (WiMMS) and novel damage detection algorithms that can be embedded in the WiMMS to provide real time information processing for civil structure applications. Collaborators include faculty, researchers and students from Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, as well as Civil Engineering.

The Geotechnical Laboratory houses a number of equipment including two triaxial load frames, a pneumatic direct/residual machine, an automated soil compactor, and a liquefaction device for use on the shaking table.

The Professional Affiliates Program offers individuals and companies the chance to have enhanced access to Blume Center fac-ulty, students, and staff. Affiliates are encouraged to discuss with researchers critical issues of mutual concern. Affiliates are informed continuously about ongoing research on an informal basis through individual faculty and student interactions. In addition, a bi-annual affiliates meeting is held to review research progress and important findings. The Director of the Blume Center is Professor Gregory Deierlein.

The three main programs offered by the department are Construction Engineering and Management, Environmental and Water Studies, and Structural Engineering and Geomechanics. A new MS degree program in Design/Construction Integration was offered for the first time in the 1999-2000 academic year. Students may also take a wide range of flexible, individually tailored courses of study. Opportunities exist for interdepartmental and interdisciplinary programs and research in conjunction with other departments in the School of Engineering such as Computer Science, the Mechanics and Computation division of Mechanical Engineering, and Earth Sciences.

The department offers the following three graduate degrees:

• Master of Science Degree. A one-year (45 quarter units) program of study with a focus on preparation for professional work or advanced studies. A thesis is not required.

• Engineer Degree. A one-year (45 quarter units) post-MS program with a focus on more in-depth education and a thesis comprising an in-depth study of a technical subject to be approved by a faculty advisor.

• Ph.D. Degree. A program of a minimum of two years post-MS studies including advanced course work and a dissertation that must be approved by a faculty committee as an independent contribution to the state of knowledge.

Graduate Degree in Structural Engineering and Geomechanics (SEG)

The SEG Program is designed to prepare students for careers as consulting engineers or as engineers and decision makers in industry, government, and universities. The program offers courses and research opportunities in the areas of earthquake engineering and structural dynamics, reliability and risk analysis, structural analysis and design, computational mechanics, geomechanics, and computer-aided engineering. Academic programs can be designed to meet the needs of students wishing to launch careers as practicing engineers, researchers, or members of the academic community. Students have the opportunity to balance strong engineering fundamentals with modern computational methods.

Course work and research in earthquake engineering and structural dynamics provides an understanding of earthquake phenomena and the resulting ground shaking, and an in-depth knowledge on the behavior, analysis, and design of various types of structures under seismic or other dynamic forces. Advanced analytical and experimental research in earthquake engineering is conducted at the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, which houses static and dynamic testing facilities, including two small shaking tables and an advanced technology laboratory. Research areas include seismic hazard analysis, risk and reliability analysis, performance-based seismic design, ground motion modeling, seismic demand and capacity evaluation, structural health monitoring and advanced sensor and control technology. Reliability and risk analysis focuses on instruction and research on advanced methods for structural safety evaluation and design, including methods for loss estimation from damage and failures of structures and lifeline systems. Course work combines a strong background in structural analysis and design with probability theory and statistics. Research in this area deals with seismic risk and reliability of large structural systems, wind hazards, regional loss and damage evaluation, and reliability of marine structures.

The Reliability of Marine Structures (RMS) research program combines post-M.S. graduate study and basic research in the development and application of stochastic methods of modeling and analysis of marine loads, structural response, and structural behavior. Courses and research in structural analysis and design focus on conceptual and detailed design of structural systems and on computational methods for predicting the static and dynamic, linear and nonlinear response of structures. Included are courses that emphasize performance-based design and computer-based design concepts. Related course work is available from other departments such as mechanical engineering, materials sciences and engineering, and computer science.

In collaboration with the Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, issues involving design for constructability and collaborative engineering are addressed as an integral part of research in this area. Computational mechanics emphasizes the application of modern computing methods to structural engineering and geomechanics. It draws on the disciplines of mechanics, mathematics, and computer science and encompasses numerical structural and geotechnical analysis, including finite element analysis and boundary element methods. Strong teaching and research ties exist between our program and the Mechanics and Computation Division in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Scientific Computing and Computational Mathematics Program in the Department of Computer Science. Students with primary interests in the application of principles of applied mechanics to problems involving geologic materials have the option of enrolling in a degree program in geomechanics. This program focuses on instruction and research in theoretical soil and rock mechanics, computational methods, and analysis and design of foundations and earth structures.

Computer-aided engineering focuses on the application of computer science principles and advanced computing technology to structural and construction engineering. Research in this area deals with the utilization of distributive and internet computing, information management, and AI techniques to facilitate collaboration among all participants in the design/construction process and to support facility engineering integration including planning, design, construction, and facility management. Strong interaction exists between our program and the Department of Computer Science. For more information on Stanford’s Structural Engineering and Geomechanics program visit http://www.stanford.edu/group/strgeo.

Graduate Degree in Design/Construction Integration (DCI)

To better prepare our graduates for successful careers as design and construction professionals making major contributions to integrated projects, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford began offering a Masters of Science degree in Design/Construction Integration, in the 1999-2000 academic year. The Structural Engineering and Geomechanics Program and the Construction Engineering and Management Program (http://www.stanford.edu/group/cem) jointly administer this degree, with strong links to Stanford’s Project-Based Learning Laboratory (http://pbl.stanford.edu) and the Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (http://www.stanford.edu/group/cife). For more information on this degree option visit http://www.stanford.edu/group/dci.