Example engineering dissertation topic 12:

Evaluation of a plasticity model for the analysis of earthquake soil liquefaction

This dissertation undertakes a comprehensive evaluation of the Andrianapoulos, Papadimitriou and Bouckovalas (2010) plasticity model for the analysis of earthquake soil liquefaction, using recent earthquake data from the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The study further makes recommendations for refinement of the model in the light of these events.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Andrianopoulos, K.I., Papadimitriou, A.G. and Bouckovalas, G.D. (2010) ‘Explicit integration of bounding surface model for the analysis of earthquake soil liquefaction’, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 34, pp. 1586-1614.
• Idriss, I.M. and Boulanger, R.W. (2006) ‘Semi-empirical procedures for evaluating liquefaction potential during earthquakes’, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 26(2-4), pp. 115-130.