Ozgun Numanoglu, PhD, PE

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineer | Researcher | Consultant

Bridging advanced numerical modeling and real-world engineering together to build resilient infrastructure. Scroll through the page to see real-life applications of FEA simulations.

Reach out to Ozgun (click here)

Untitled video.mp4

Numerical Simulation of the Soil-Structure Interaction using LS-DYNA

Using LS-DYNA, I developed a 3D seismic soil–structure interaction model to simulate the response of the Nihal Atakaş Mosque during the 2023 earthquakes. The simulation reproduced the combined effects of shaking-induced settlements, soil–structure interaction stresses, and partially drained soil behavior.

Click here to access the series of papers published on this study.

Real-world Occurrence of Seismic Settlements at the Mosque

Following the earthquakes, the ground adjacent to the mosque settled by 230–300 mm, with clear evidence of liquefaction ejecta. These measured deformations provided a rare opportunity to compare field observations with advanced numerical modeling, showing strong agreement between computed and measured settlements.

Details of the Measurements at the Mosque

I observed significant ejecta material at the north-east corner of the mosque, and the ejecta material covered approximately 850 square-feet area. This indicated that liquefaction occurred at the site. I also observed and measured 230 mm to 300 mm settlement of the adjacent soil near the mosque structure. Mosque itself did not suffer significant damage and in fact, it was open to public shortly after the earthquake. However, the amount of settlement occurred adjacent to the structure was significant and worth investigating more.

Quick Glance at the Simulation Results

I modelled the 151-meter-deep soil profile, extending more than 100-meter at each horizontal direction, and placed the structure on top of the soil. The simulation modelled different strata of gravels, clays, sands, and silty and sandy gravels with advanced constitutive models. The simulation included structural components such as the mosque itself, its minarets, domes, and door/window spaces. Deep foundation system of the structure was modelled explicitly.

The finite element simulations (settlement contours shown on the left) computed more than 250 mm vertical displacements adjacent to the structure successfully reproducing what we measured at the field. This shows the practical and useful application of FEA to a real life problem.