Prof. Yossi Hatzor of the Department of Geological Environmental Sciences and the incumbent of the Dr. Sam and Edna Lemkin Chair in Rock Mechanics has been chosen to receive the “2011 American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA) Applied Rock Mechanics Research Award” for the publication of the paper entitled: “A New Method to Estimate Paleoseismic PGA using Dynamic Numerical Back-Analysis of Keystone Displacements in Historic Masonry Structures”, co-authored with Ronnie Kamai and Gony Yagoda-Biran, two of Prof. Hatzor's graduate students.
The paper, which was published in the proceedings of the 42nd US Rock Mechanics Symposium and 2nd US – Canada Rock Mechanics Symposium, presents a new method to asses historic ground motion parameters from back analysis of dynamic displacements of rock blocks in old masonry structures, using numerical discrete element methods. The development of such a method provides scientists and engineers a sophisticated tool to assess the seismic risk in earthquake prone regions so that earthquake preparedness may be improved.
