A simulation of earthquake induced undrained pore pressure changes with bearing on some soil liquefaction observations following the 2001 Bhuj earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake of January 26th, 2001, induced wide spread liquefaction within the Kachch peninsula. It has been pointed out that inundation due to soil liquefaction was short lived in some parts than in others in the affected region. Several geological, seismological and hydrological factors would have cumulatively contributed to these observed changes. We simulate in this article, undrained or short-term change in pore pressure in a poroelastic half space, in response to a simplified model of the Bhuj earthquake source. We find that the regions of relatively shorter lived inundation due to soil liquefaction may fall in the region where pore pressure responsible for soil liquefaction attributable to strong ground shaking was counteracted by pore pressure changes due to undrained poroelastic effect and vice versa.     

液化型路堤边坡动力数值模拟分析

液化型路堤边坡动力稳定性问题涉及岩土工程与工程地震两个学科领域,是边坡工程与砂土液化的交叉课题。采用天然地震记录为输入条件,应用Finn本构关系模型,运用有限差分法,对填土+砂土+卵砾土地层组合的路堤边坡进行了全时程动力分析,探讨了地震作用下路堤边坡的液化初步规律和稳定性。数值模拟结果表明:地震作用引起了路基饱和砂土有效应力急剧减小,并导致路基砂土液化,引起路堤变形破坏。孔隙水压力的积累与消散不仅与地震记录序列存在对应关系,也与砂土所处的位置和深度有密切关系。地表变形破坏主要表现为路堤顶面发生震陷和拉裂破坏,坡底面产生挤压隆起变形。地面以下的变形破坏主要包括土体剪切破坏和深部砂土液化引起的侧向流动破坏。     

脉冲地震动中竖向加速度对场地液化的影响

为研究近断层脉冲地震动中竖向加速度对砂土场地液化的影响,基于有限元平台OpenSees开发的边界面塑性本构模型,建立了动单剪单元试验模型和饱和砂土三维有限元模型。选取台湾Chi-Chi地震中10条具有速度脉冲特性的地震波,对比分析了水平双向脉冲波与三向脉冲波作用下土柱竖向位移、循环应力比、孔压比及等效循环周数的差异性,继而明确了脉冲地震动中竖向加速度对砂土液化的影响规律。研究表明,三向脉冲地震波中竖向加速度分量对场地永久位移值影响较小,但使永久位移的发展持时明显增大;土柱循环应力比受竖向地震动影响较小,因此分析脉冲地震动对场地剪切特性的影响时,可将三向脉冲地震动简化为水平双向地震动;考虑竖向地震动的三向脉冲地震波引起的孔压比变化幅度较大,孔压消散时间较长;三向脉冲地震波对应的等效循环周数较大,地震动发展持时长,可认为竖向加速度对场地液化有促进作用。     

Assessment and Prediction of Liquefaction Potential Using Different Artificial Neural Network Models: A Case Study

Soil liquefaction as a transformation of granular material from solid to liquid state is a type of ground failure commonly associated with moderate to large earthquakes and refers to the loss of strength in saturated, cohesionless soils due to the build-up of pore water pressures and reduction of the effective stress during dynamic loading. In this paper, assessment and prediction of liquefaction potential of soils subjected to earthquake using two different artificial neural network models based on mechanical and geotechnical related parameters (model A) and earthquake related parameters (model B) have been proposed. In model A the depth, unit weight, SPT-N value, shear wave velocity, soil type and fine contents and in model B the depth, stress reduction factor, cyclic stress ratio, cyclic resistance ratio, pore pressure, total and effective vertical stress were considered as network inputs. Among the numerous tested models, the 6-4-4-2-1 structure correspond to model A and 7-5-4-6-1 for model B due to minimum network root mean square errors were selected as optimized network architecture models in this study. The performance of the network models were controlled approved and evaluated using several statistical criteria, regression analysis as well as detailed comparison with known accepted procedures. The results represented that the model A satisfied almost all the employed criteria and showed better performance than model B. The sensitivity analysis in this study showed that depth, shear wave velocity and SPT-N value for model A and cyclic resistance ratio, cyclic stress ratio and effective vertical stress for model B are the three most effective parameters on liquefaction potential analysis. Moreover, the calculated absolute error for model A represented better performance than model B. The reasonable agreement of network output in comparison with the results from previously accepted methods indicate satisfactory network performance for prediction of liquefaction potential analysis.     

栗西沟尾矿坝地震响应及液化分析

采用不排水有效应力法,利用Geo-slope软件,对金堆城栗西沟尾矿坝进行了地震响应的综合分析与液化计算。结果显示: a .栗西沟尾矿坝在静态条件下是稳定的; b .在7度地震条件下,尾矿坝的加速度反应较小,其放大倍数为2.204; c .栗西沟尾矿坝内动剪应力和动孔压绝大部分是随着地震历时的增加而逐渐增大; d .坝内孔压比都较小,抗液化安全系数较大,但局部液化区的存在,仍可能影响到整个坝体的安全性,应在液化区采取加固措施。      

Piles in fully liquefied soils with lateral spread

The paper provides a new analysis procedure for the assessment of the lateral response of isolated piles/drilled shafts in saturated sands as liquefaction and lateral soil spread develop in response to dynamic loading such as that generated by the earthquake shaking. The presented method accounts for: (1) the development of full liquefaction in the free-field soil that could trigger the lateral spread of the overlying crust layer; (2) the driving force exerted by the crust layer based on the interaction between the pile and the upper non-liquefied soil (crust) layer; and (3) the variation of the excess pore water pressure (i.e. post-liquefaction soil strength) in the near-field soil with the progressive pile deflection under lateral soil spread driving force. A constitutive model for fully liquefied sands under monotonic loading and undrained conditions is developed in order to predict the zone of post-liquefaction zero-strength of liquefied sand before it rebounds with the increasing soil strain in the near-field. The analytical and empirical concepts employed in the Strain Wedge (SW) model allow the modeling of such a sophisticated phenomenon of lateral soil spread that could accompany or follow the occurrence of seismic events without using modifying parameters or shape corrections to account for soil liquefaction.     

Easy to Use Empirical Correlations for Liquefaction and No Liquefaction Conditions

Considerable damages during an earthquake (EQ) are the consequence of in situ soil losing its shear strength which is popularly known as liquefaction. A number of methodologies are available to quantify the safety of a site against liquefaction occurrence. Widely accepted recent methodologies follow iterative process making it cumbersome for the field engineer. In the present work, empirical correlations are proposed in accordance with widely accepted methodology, analysing the effect of various parameters such as overburden pressure, fines content (FC), factor of safety (FOS) etc. These proposed correlations are easy to use for the designers and the field engineers to determine the liquefaction potential of a site. Considering data from 207 global sites, proposed correlations are validated by comparing with standard methodology. Three different graphical validations are presented supporting that the results based on the proposed correlations are closely matching with the standard methodology. In case a site is found susceptible to liquefaction, so far no correlations are available to determine the shear strength required to be achieved after ground improvement which will ensure no liquefaction during future EQ. Proposed correlations in this work can also be used easily to determine improved shear strength required for a known FOS, FC and EQ magnitude (M) from ground improvement. Two flowcharts explaining the use of proposed correlations to determine FOS of a site and improvement shear strength required for a liquefied site from ground improvement respectively are developed in this work. Based on the second flowchart, determination of shear strength required from ground improvement are done for 45 random sites out of 207 liquefied sites during worldwide EQ in this work.     

小坡度海底土层地震液化诱发滑移分析方法

地震可使海底砂质、粉质土层液化并导致上部土层的滑移。基于有效应力有限元动力分析方法和Newmark刚性滑块理论,提出了一种计算海底小坡度（≤5o）土层地震液化引起侧向滑移的简化方法。该方法将波浪荷载简化为海底恒定的上覆压力和初始孔压,忽略了海水粘性对海底土层地震反应的影响,利用改进的Seed孔压模型进行动力分析和液化判别,用Newmark滑块理论计算了土层侧向滑移。通过算例和对比分析,研究了海水深度和土层坡度对侧向滑移的影响,表明该方法的有效性,可为近海工程场地地震地质灾害评价提供参考数据。     

Numerical simulation of mitigation for liquefaction-induced soil deformations in a sandy ground improved by cement grouting

This paper presents a numerical study of mitigation for liquefaction during earthquake loading. Analyses are carried out using an effective stress based, fully coupled, hybrid, finite element-finite differences approach. The sandy soil behavior is described by means of a cyclic elastoplastic constitutive model, which was developed within the framework of a nonlinear kinematic hardening rule. In theory, the philosophies of mitigation for liquefaction can be summarized as two main concepts, i.e. prevention of excess pore water pressure generation and reduction of liquefaction-induced deformations. This paper is primarily concerned with the latter approach to liquefaction mitigation. Firstly, the numerical method and the analytical procedure are briefly outlined. Subsequently, a case-history study, which includes a liquefaction mitigation technique of cement grouting for ground improvement of a sluice gate, is conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of liquefaction countermeasures. Special emphasis is given to the computed results of excess pore water pressures, displacements, and accelerations during the seismic excitation. Generally, the distinctive patterns of seismic response are accurately reproduced by the numerical simulation. The proposed numerical method is thus considered to capture the fundamental aspects of the problems investigated, and yields results for design purposes. From the results in the case, excess pore water pressures eventually reach fully liquefied state under the input earthquake loading and this cannot be prevented. However, liquefaction-induced lateral spreading of the foundation soils can be effectively reduced by the liquefaction mitigation techniques. An erratum to this article can be found at     

液化土层上建筑物倾斜计算要点初步分析

地震中饱和砂土地基液化会引起结构物倾斜并导致其功能丧失,但目前缺乏相应的数值模拟方法。通过振动台简单模型试验,寻找输入波-基底竖向动应力-基底孔压-结构震陷之间的关系,提出发展液化土层上建筑物倾斜数值模拟方法所需要考虑的要点和应满足的条件。结果表明：（1）分析方法中孔压增长模型应适于不规则波计算,能准确地计算出孔压增长过程,准确地计算出峰值一样但不同波形下孔压增长的差别;（2）孔压增长模型应能反映土的各向异性特性对孔压增长的影响,能合理地计算出拉、压不同应力作用下孔压增长的差异;（3）孔压增长模型应能反映非均等固结条件对孔压增长过程的影响,能合理地计算出结构底部不同固结比土体中孔压增长过程;（4）分析方法中土体变形的计算应能跟踪液化过程中的变形发展,且具备大变形计算能力。     

Static Liquefaction Analysis Considering Principal Stress Directions and Anisotropy

Static liquefaction failure of a sloping ground occurs when the shear stress applied by a monotonic triggering load exceeds the undrained yield (peak) shear strength of the saturated liquefiable cohesionless soil. Current practices for determining the in-situ undrained yield strength for ground subject to static shear stress either rely on a suite of costly laboratory tests on undisturbed field samples or empirical correlations based on in-situ penetration tests which do not account for the effects of anisotropic consolidation, intermediate principal stress, and mode of shear on the degree of strain-softening and brittleness of cohesionless soils. This study investigates the effects of variations in the direction and relative magnitudes of principal stresses associated with different modes of shear and ground slopes on static liquefaction failure of cohesionless soils. Empirical relationships are developed between soil brittleness index and maximum excess pore water pressure ratio to characterize soil shearing behavior observed in a database of 271 undrained laboratory shear tests collected from the past literature. The application of these relationships for estimating the static liquefaction triggering strength of cohesionless soils under sloping grounds is described for plane-strain boundary conditions and the results are compared with those back-calculated for several cases of static liquefaction flow failures. The proposed procedure incorporates variations in mode of shear and initial stress anisotropy in an empirical formulation based on in-situ penetration tests.     

1989～2011期间8次强地震中抗液化地基处理成功案例的回顾与启示

回顾了1989年美国Mw6.9级Loma Prieta地震、1993年日本Ms7.8级Kushiro-Oki地震、1994年日本Mw8.2级Hokkaido Toho-Oki地震、1995年日本Ms7.2级阪神地震、1999年台湾集集地震、1999年土耳其Mw7.4级Kocaeli地震、2001年美国Mw6.8级Nisqually地震以及2011年Mw9.0级东日本地震中场地抗液化工程措施的成功案例,初步分析了各种抗液化工程措施的有效性与优劣性,可以给出如下工程场地抗液化处理的经验：（1）对于易液化的沿海及填海造陆场地,采用适宜的抗液化工程措施应成为地基处理不可缺少的环节;（2）应基于场地条件、经济条件及环境要求,综合考虑场地抗液化地基处理措施的选择;（3）挤密砂桩法和碎石桩法运用广泛、技术成熟且比较经济,宜优先选择作为抗震设防烈度Ⅷ度及以下地区的场地抗液化地基处理措施;（4）强夯法使用机具简单、费用低廉,适宜选择作为抗震设防烈度Ⅷ度及以下地区大面积场地的抗液化地基处理措施;（5）注浆法、深层搅拌法、旋喷法作为抗震设防烈度Ⅸ度及以下地区的场地抗液化地基处理措施是有效的;（6）多种抗液化地基处理措施联合使用的处理效果往往优于单一措施单独使用的处理效果,在条件许可的情况下,宜选择多种抗液化地基处理措施联合使用,以期达到更好的处理效果。     

常德张家界高速公路某大桥桥基砂土液化评价

结合常德张家界高速公路某大桥桥基工程,在DSD160型电磁式振动三轴试验仪上,通过往返加荷三轴试验,对饱和砂土进行了液化试验研究,探讨了基于动三轴液化试验结果判断饱和砂土液化的方法。并尝试了这种室内研究反应分析的液化可能性估计方法与地震剪应力时程相结合的综合判断方法。在该高速公路大桥桥基的饱和砂土液化评价中,采用这种综合判断方法,对大桥桥基砂土液化进行了判断。在判断场地是否液化后,对其液化危害程度进行了等级划分,给出了该工程场地在未来遭受到不同超越概率下的地震作用时发生液化的危害程度,得到了一些有工程实用意义的结果。     

A study on the identification of liquefaction-induced failures on ground surface based on the data from the 1999 Kocaeli and Chi-Chi earthquakes

One of the major causes of earthquake damage is liquefaction. However, it doesn't result in severe harm unless it leads to ground surface damage or ground failure. Therefore, prediction of potential for ground surface damage due to liquefaction is one of the important issues in microzonation studies for liquefaction-induced damage in areas with high seismicity. In 1985, based on a database compiled from Chinese and Japanese earthquakes, Ishihara considered the influence of the non-liquefied cap soil on the occurrence or non-occurrence of ground failure (mainly sand boiling), and proposed an empirical approach to predict the potential for ground surface damage at sites susceptible to liquefaction. However, some investigators indicated that this approach is not generally valid for sites susceptible to lateral spread or ground oscillation. In this study, a contribution to improve the approach by Ishihara is made. For the purpose, an index called liquefaction severity index (LSI) and data from two devastating earthquakes, which occurred in Turkey and Taiwan in 1999, were employed. The data from liquefied and non-liquefied sites were grouped and then analysed. Based on the observations reported by reconnaissance teams who visited both earthquake sites and the results of the liquefaction potential analyses using the filed-performance data, a chart to assess the potential for ground surface disruption at liquefaction-prone areas was produced. The analyses suggest that the procedure proposed by Ishihara is quite effective particularly for the occurrence of sand boils, while the bounds suggested in this method generally may not be valid for the prediction of liquefaction-induced ground surface disruption at sites susceptible to lateral spreading. The chart proposed in this study shows an improvement over the Ishihara's approach for predicting the liquefaction-induced ground surface damage. The microzonation maps comparing the liquefaction sites observed along the southern shore of Izmit Bay and in Yuanlin, and the surface damage and non-damage zones predicted from the proposed chart can identify accurately the liquefaction (sand boiling and lateral spreading) and no-liquefaction sites.     

Explanation of liquefaction in after shock of the 2011 great east Japan earthquake using numerical analysis

During the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, severe liquefaction occurred in reclaimed ground in Urayasu city, Chiba prefecture. This liquefaction provided important lessons for us to re-recognize the liquefaction mechanism. A distinct feature of the liquefaction in this earthquake is that severe liquefaction happened not only in the main shock but also in an aftershock with a maximum acceleration of 25 gal. In some areas, liquefaction happened in the aftershock is even more serious than that happened in the main shock. In this paper, focus is placed on the characteristic features in the occurrence of liquefaction and consequent ground settlement. Based on the observed data, a series of dynamic–static analyses, considering not only the earthquake loading but also static loading during the consolidation after the earthquake shocks, are conducted in a sequential way just the same as the scenario in the earthquake. The calculation is conducted with 3D soil–water coupling finite element–finite difference analyses based on a cyclic elasto-plastic constitutive model. From the results of analyses, it is recognized that small sequential earthquakes, which cannot cause liquefaction of a ground in an independent earthquake vibration, cannot be neglected when the ground has already experienced liquefaction after a major vibration. In addition, the aftershock has great influence on the long-term settlement of low permeability soil layer. The observed and predicted liquefaction and settlements are compared and discussed carefully. It is confirmed that the numerical method used in this study can describe the ground behavior correctly under repeated earthquake shocks.     

Liquefaction potential of coastal slopes induced by solitary waves

Tsunami runup and drawdown can cause liquefaction failure of coastal fine sand slopes due to the generation of high excess pore pressure and the reduction of the effective over burden pressure during the drawdown. The region immediately seaward of the initial shoreline is the most susceptible to tsunami-induced liquefaction failure because the water level drops significantly below the still water level during the set down phase of the drawdown. The objective of this work is to develop and validate a numerical model to assess the potential for tsunami-induced liquefaction failure of coastal sandy slopes. The transient pressure distribution acting on the slope due to wave runup and drawdown is computed by solving for the hybrid Boussinesq—nonlinear shallow water equations using a finite volume method. The subsurface pore water pressure and deformation fields are solved simultaneously using a finite element method. Two different soil constitutive models have been examined: a linear elastic model and a non-associative Mohr–Coulomb model. The numerical methods are validated by comparing the results with analytical models, and with experimental measurements from a large-scale laboratory study of breaking solitary waves over a planar fine sand beach. Good comparisons were observed from both the analytical and experimental validation studies. Numerical case studies are shown for a full-scale simulation of a 10-m solitary wave over a 1:15 and 1:5 sloped fine sand beach. The results show that the soil near the bed surface, particularly along the seepage face, is at risk to liquefaction failure. The depth of the seepage face increases and the width of the seepage face decreases with increasing bed slope. The rate of bed surface loading and unloading due to wave runup and drawdown, respectively, also increases with increasing bed slope. Consequently, the case with the steeper slope is more susceptible to liquefaction failure due to the higher hydraulic gradient. The analysis also suggests that the results are strongly influenced by the soil permeability and relative compressibility between the pore fluid and solid skeleton, and that a coupled solid/fluid formulation is needed for the soil solver. Finally, the results show the drawdown pore pressure response is strongly influenced by nonlinear material behavior for the full-scale simulation.     

Critical state framework for liquefaction of fine grained soils

A consistent methodology based on the critical state framework to characterize the different regimes of fine-grained soil behavior under earthquake loads is put forward. Shear strength and deformation behavior of soils depend in a major way on the combination of volume and confining stress. Depending on their combination, a soil aggregate may fracture into clastic debris, fail with fault planes, or yield plastically. This characterization of the class of limiting soil behavior is used to analyze the potential for large deformation and liquefaction in fine grained soils. The central piece of the proposed characterization is the (η, LI₅) stability diagram where η = q/p′ and LI₅ = LI + 0.5 log (p′/5). This diagram captures the effects of soil plasticity through liquidity index LI, confinement through mean normal effective stress p′, and shear stress q through the stress ratio η. The three regions of behavior; fracture, fault, and fold/yield are identified. Soils become susceptible to liquefaction when they shift into the fracture zone (LI₅ ≤ 0.4), or if they plot outside of the stable yielding region.Under earthquake loading, the initial soil states will migrate into different regions in the stability diagram depending on their initial location, shear stress increment, and, pore pressure response. The final position of the soil state would dictate the type of limiting behavior expected in the field; fracture, rupture or yield. The final states which fall into the fracture region have the potential for catastrophic failures including “liquefaction”; the ones which fall onto the rupture region would experience the attainment of a peak stress ratio followed by softening along failure planes; the ones in the yield region would continue to yield in a stable manner. The latter two types of deformations while resulting in large deformation may not be of a catastrophic nature. The proposed characterization is used to examine the liquefaction susceptibility of fine grained soils from China, Taiwan, and Turkey. Use of simplified empirical criteria based on parameters such as plasticity index and fines contents may not capture the true nature of the type of undrained limiting behavior of fine grains soils in the field including liquefaction.     

Steady state and liquefaction characteristics of gravely sands

Liquefaction of loose and saturated soils during earthquakes and strong ground motions has been a major cause of damage to buildings and earth embankments as well as other civil engineering structures. In order to evaluate the liquefaction potential and steady state characteristics of gravely sand of south west Tehran,a subsoil exploration program conducted dividing the region into 10 zones. In each zone of 500 m × 500 m a borehole of 20 m deep was drilled. SPT was performed at one meter intervals in each borehole and a total of 200 samples were recovered. Soils of similar grain size distribution have been considered to have similar steady state characteristics,therefore consolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed on these soils of similar grain size distribution to evaluate the steady state strength. The steady state line for each soil type was derived. Comparing the steady state strengths with the shear stress due to an earthquake with a PGA of 0.35 g,the potential of sand liquefaction and .ow failure in soil layers has been evaluated and the settlement of soil due to the liquefaction phenomena is calculated. Finally some recommendations for estimating the steady state strength from simple SPT test in gravely sands are presented.     

Probabilistic assessment of soil liquefaction considering spatial variability of CPT measurements

The conventional liquefaction potential assessment methods (also known as simplified methods) profoundly rely on empirical correlations based on observations from case histories. A probabilistic framework is developed to incorporate uncertainties in the earthquake ground motion prediction, the cyclic resistance prediction, and the cyclic demand prediction. The results of a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, site response analyses, and liquefaction potential analyses are convolved to derive a relationship for the annual probability and return period of liquefaction. The random field spatial model is employed to quantify the spatial uncertainty associated with the in-situ measurements of geotechnical material.     

碎石桩复合地基桩体减震作用研究

地震引起的土体液化和地基失效对岩土工程师而言仍是一个热点问题。地震液化及地基变形可以采用多种地基加固方法防治,碎石桩技术是常用方法之一。碎石桩复合地基抗液化效用主要是增加桩周土体的密度、桩体的排水以及桩体分担地震水平剪应力作用(桩体减震作用)。目前,以抗液化为主的碎石桩复合地基的设计以及效果评价方法仍只考虑加密作用。首先通过3个模型(1个饱和砂土地基模型、2个碎石桩复合地基模型)的振动台试验研究抗液化碎石桩的减震作用。然后以试验记录的模型动力反应以及建立的理论模型为基础,分析碎石桩复合地基的桩体减震作用。试验及理论分析结果表明,复合地基中的碎石桩可以明显地降低作用在桩间可液化土上的地震剪应力。