Geotechnical Parameters for Seismic Hazard Microzonation

Principle of Geotechnical Centrifuge
If an acceleration of N times Earth’s gravity (g) is applied to a material of
density ρ, then the vertical stress, σ v at depth h m in the model is:
σ vm = ρNgh m
and in the prototype,
σ vp = ρgh p
Thus for similitude of stress between the model and prototype (i.e. σ vp = σ vm ).
and
h m = h p /N
This means if a model of soil depth, hm = 0.15 m (as used here) is rotated in a
centrifuge at a speed such that it experiences 100 times earth gravity, then the vertical
stresses and strain in the soil will be equivalent to that of 15 m deep soil. Thus soil
model behavior can be correlated with its prototype.