Geotechnical characterization of the C.A.S.E. project sites

ABSTRACT The paper summarises the experimental data collected by in-situ and laboratory tests on the soils in the Aterno valley, with the aim to characterize the seismic response of the sites selected for the emergency houses (C.A.S.E.), built few months after the April 6, 2009 L’Aquila earthquake. The results reported in the paper are relevant to the experimental activity coordinated by the Italian Geotechnical Society (AGI), and carried out by a network of advanced soil dynamics laboratories. The in situ tests consisted of MASW tests; the shear wave velocity profiles in some sites were successfully compared against DH and SDMT tests and instrumentally recorded HVSR amplification. The laboratory investigation included cyclic/dynamic simple/torsional shear tests on undisturbed samples. The results, summarised in terms of variation of stiffness and damping with shear strain, highlighted some peculiar properties of the soils in the Aterno valley, which can significantly affect the non-linear seismic response of the sites