Applied Seismology for Engineers

By Prof. Abhishek Kumar | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 252 | Exam registration: 4

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The present course gives an overview followed by in-depth knowledge about various topics which are required particularly for seismic analysis whether related to determination of seismic loading, understanding dominating fault mechanism in the region, understanding slope stability problems, development of synthetic ground motions, seismic hazard analysis, source characterization, ground response analysis etc. It will help reader to gain deep understanding about above subjects and how these are applied to real life problems. Theoretical explanation followed by numerical problems on above mentioned topics will be covered.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Mtech and PhD students on Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	20 Jan 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	14 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1:

Module Name: Plate tectonics, continental drift theory

Lecture 1: Plate tectonics and continental drift theory

Week 2:

Module Name: Fault plane solution, beach ball solution, stereonets

Lecture 2: Fault plane solution

Lecture 3: Fault plane solution (part 2)

Lecture 4: Fault plane solution (Stereonets)

Week 3:

Module Name: Seismic gap and analogy for active and inactive faults

Lecture 5: Seismic gaps

Lecture 6: Analogy of active & inactive fault

Week 4:

Module Name: Seismic waves and their attenuations

Lecture 7: Seismic waves and their use in locating EQ epicentre

Lecture 8: EQ intensity, magnitude and wave attenuation

Week 5:

Module Name: Seismic source characterization, earthquake catalogue preparation and seismic activity parameters

Lecture 9: Seismic source characterization and seismic activity

Lecture 10: Earthquake catalogue preparation and seismic activity parameters

Week 6:

Module Name: Ground motion simulation models, GMPEs and seismic hazard analyses

Lecture 11: Ground motion simulation models and GMPEs

Lecture 12: Deterministic seismic hazard analysis (DSHA)

Lecture 13: Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA)

Week 7:

Module Name: Equation of motion and its solution

Lecture 14: One dimensional equation of motion: P wave

Lecture 15: One dimensional equation of motion: S wave

Lecture 16: Solution to 1D equation of motion: S wave

Week 8:

Module Name: Ground response analysis

Lecture 17: Local site effect (LSE) and ground response analysis part-I

Lecture 18: LSE and ground response analysis part-II

Lecture 19: Ground response analysis part III

Lecture 20: Ground response analysis part IV

Week 9:

Module Name: Liquefaction assessments and state criteria

Lecture 21: State criteria for liquefaction part 1

Lecture 22: State criteria for liquefaction part 2

Lecture 23: Initiation of liquefaction

Lecture 24: Assessment of liquefaction potential

Week 10:

Module Name: Paleoliquefaction investigations and seismic microzonation practices

Lecture 25: Paleoliquefaction

Lecture 26: Seismic microzonation

Week 11:

Module Name: Landslide, classification

Lecture 27: Landslides: introduction and classification

Week 12:

Module Name: Seismic vulnerability, risk

Lecture 28: Seismic vulnerability and risk part 1

Lecture 29: Seismic vulnerability and risk part 2

Lecture 30: Seismic vulnerability and risk part 3

Books and references

1.Quantitative seismology Aki, K. and P G Richards, Second Edition, University Science Books, Sausalito
2. Stein and Wysession, An introduction to seismology, Earthquake and earth structureBlackwell-2003.
3. Shearer, P- Introduction to seismology, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
4. Philip K, Micheal B, Hill I: An introduction to geophysical exploration, Blackwell Publishing.
5. John P McCalpin: Paleoseismology, Elsevier Academic press

Instructor bio

Prof. Abhishek Kumar

IIT Guwahati

Prof. Abhishek Kumar did his Diploma and Bachelor in Civil Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh by the year 2007. Later, joined for ME in department of Civil Engineering at IISc Bangalore where he converted to PhD in 2008. In August 2013 after defending his PhD thesis, Dr Abhishek Kumar joined Larsen and Toubro as Assistant Engineering Manager where he was involved in developing guidelines for field investigations particularly related to seismic aspects. Later, in May 2014, Dr Kumar joined department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati as Assistant Professor. He has so far guided 5 Mtech thesis, one PhD thesis has been submitted under his supervision while two more are under progress. He is recipient of Young Engineers Award 2015 from Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and Institution of Engineers. He is also recipient of INSPIRE faculty award from Department of Science and Technology. In addition, he is also principal investigator for a research project under Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 26, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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