Seismic loading impacts on excess pore‐water pressure maintain landslide triggered flowslides

During the 2003 Sanriku‐Minami earthquake, Japan, a flowslide was triggered on a slope of about 13.5º. The displaced landslide mass developed into a flowslide and deposited on a horizontal rice paddy after traveling approximately 130 m. To study the trigger and movement mechanisms of this landslide, field investigation and laboratory ring‐shear tests were performed. Field investigation revealed that the landslide originated from a fill slope, where a gully was buried for cultivation some decades ago, and shallow ground water was present. Undrained monotonic and cyclic ring‐shear tests on a sample (pyroclastic deposits) taken from the source area revealed that the soil is highly liquefiable, and its steady‐state shear strength can be little affected by overconsolidation. Using the seismic records of the earthquake, probable seismic loadings on the sliding surface were synthesized and applied to the samples in ring‐shear tests, which were performed under undrained or partially drained conditions. The undrained and partially drained tests revealed that shear failure can be triggered by the introduction of seismic loading and formation of excess pore‐water pressure. The generation of excess pore‐water pressure along with increase of shear displacement and the inhibited dissipation of excess pore‐water pressure due to the thickness of the saturated soil layer above the sliding surface probably enabled the continued post‐failure landsliding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

与地震有关的水文及地球化学变化

简要回顾了几十年来对地震发生前、地震过程中和震后地下流体和地球化学变化的研究和成果,这些研究一般都是以探索地震预报可能性为目的的。论述了与地震有关的地下水文及地球化学变化的机理,这些地下流体(包括地下水和气体诸如氢、氧和惰性气体)的起源和迁移流动现象以及详细介绍了早期和近代对有关地震的地下流体和地球化学变化的观测成果。同时指出了对地下流体和地球化学作为地震前兆来观测研究的困难所在以及为了克服这些困难而应该采取的地震前兆观测研究的方向,例如多种手段和多种原理方法,开发有效的地球物理和地球化学模型以及适当的数据分析统计方法等。     

Postliquefaction behavior of low-plasticity silt at various degrees of reconsolidation

During earthquake events, low-plasticity silt undergoes a reduction in shear strength and stiffness due to development of excess pore pressure induced by cyclic loading. With reconsolidation, during which process excess pore pressure is dissipated, the shear strength and stiffness can be regained. However, due to the low permeability of silts (compared to sands), the dissipation of excess pore pressure and the reconsolidation of low-plasticity silt takes much more time. This paper investigates the postliquefaction shear behavior of Mississippi River Valley (MRV) silt at various degrees of reconsolidation using triaxial tests. Test results indicate that there was a steady increase, in shear strength and stiffness, at both large and small deformations, with increase in the degree of reconsolidation. The postliquefaction silt showed the effect of the apparent OCR, which had a close effect on postcyclic shear behavior as did the OCR on the static behavior. The critical state lines of MRV silt were different for pre- and post-liquefaction conditions.     

Evolution of the shear wave velocity during shaking modeled in centrifuge shaking table tests

Two in-flight shear wave velocity measurement systems were developed to perform the subsurface exploration of shear wave velocity in a centrifuge model. The bender elements test and the pre-shaking test used in the study provided reliable and consistent shear wave velocity profiles along the model depth before and after shaking in the centrifuge shaking table tests. In addition, the use of the bender elements measurement system particularly developed here allowed continuous examination of the evolution of shear wave velocity not only during and after the shaking periods in the small shaking events but also during the dissipation period of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction in the large shaking events. The test results showed that the shear wave velocity at different values of excess pore water pressure ratio varied as the effective mean stress to the power of 0.27, to a first approximation. Consequently, a relationship between the shear wave velocity evolution ratio and the excess pore water pressure ratio is proposed to evaluate the changes in shear wave velocity due to excess pore water generation and dissipation during shaking events. This relation will assist engineers in determining the shear stiffness reduction ratio at various r_u levels when a sand deposit is subjected to different levels of earthquake shaking.     

Pore fluid pressure effects in anisotropic rocks: Mechanisms of induced seismicity and weak faults

Many observations and studies indicate that pore fluid pressure in the crustal rocks plays an important role in deformation, faulting, and earthquake processes. Conventional models of pore pressure effects often assume isotropic porous rocks and yield the nondeviatoric pressure effects which seem insufficient to explain diverse phenomena related to pore pressure variation, such as fluid-extraction induced seismicity and crustal weak faults. We derive the anisotropic effective stress law especially for transversely-isotropic and orthotropic rocks, and propose that the deviatoric effects of pore fluid pressure in anisotropic rocks not only affect rock effective strength but also cause variation of shear stresses. Such shear stress variations induced by either pore pressure buildup or pore pressure decline may lead to faulting instability and trigger earthquakes, and provide mechanisms for the failure of crustal weak faults with low level of shear stresses. We believe that the deviatoric effects of pore fluid pressure in anisotropic rocks are of wide application in studies of earthquake precursors and aftershocks, oil and gas reservoir characterization, enhanced oil recovery, and hydraulic fracturing.     

The effect of stress on pore pressure in rocks and the mechanism of water table anomaly before earthquakes

Triaxial compressive experiments of porous rock samples were carried out under various confining pressures and initial pore pressures without drainage; axial strain and pore pressure were observed versus differential stress. The results of such experiments show that pore pressure increases with increase of differential stress at low differential stress; pore pressure decreases with increase of differential stress at medium and high differential stress. Pore pressure also increases with large amplitude decrease of differential stress at high differential stress. Based on such experiments, it is suggested that water table anomaly before an earthquake reflects the change of differential stress in crustal rocks. The anomalous behavior of water tables in the epicentral and peripheral areas before the great Tangshan earthquake of July 28, 1976 are explained by such suggestion. The Chinese version of this paper appeared in the Chinese edition ofActa Seismologica Sinica,13, 88–95, 1991. This study is supported by the Chinese Joint Seismological Science Foundation. Professor Yongtai Che gave us much help in applying fund support and supplying earthquake case histories.     

Flow and deformation failure of sandy slopes

The effects of earthquake induced pore pressure on seismic and post seismic stability conditions of cohesionless slopes are investigated with reference to the infinite slope scheme. In cohesionless slopes the shear strength reduction caused by pore pressure build-up may lead the slope to a deformation failure or to a flow failure if liquefaction conditions are approached. Two critical values of the seismic induced pore pressure ratio are introduced to evaluate the effect of shear strength reduction on the slope failure mechanism. The results are given in the form of stability charts and a procedure for the evaluation of the seismic stability condition is described. The procedure gives useful information about the failure mechanism that slopes may exhibit and the displacement analysis which should be carried out.     

Response mechanism of post-earthquake slopes under heavy rainfall

This paper uses the catastrophic landslide that occurred in Zhongxing Town, Dujiangyan City, as an example to study the formation mechanism of landslides induced by heavy rainfall in the post-Wenchuan earthquake area. The deformation characteristics of a slope under seismic loading were investigated via a shaking table test. The results show that a large number of cracks formed in the slope due to the tensile and shear forces of the vibrations, and most of the cracks had angles of approximately 45° with respect to the horizontal. A series of flume tests were performed to show how the duration and intensity of rainfall influence the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes. Wetting fronts were recorded under different rainfall intensities, and the depth of rainfall infiltration was greater in the shaken slope than in the non-shaken slope because the former experienced a greater extreme rainfall intensity under the same early rainfall and rainfall duration conditions. At the beginning of the rainfall infiltration experiment, the pore water pressure in the slope was negative, and settling occurred at the top of the slope. With increasing rainfall, the pore water pressure changed from negative to positive, and cracks were observed on the back surface of the slope and the shear outlet of the landslide on the front of the slope. The shaken slope was more susceptible to crack formation than the non-shaken slope under the same rainfall conditions. A comparison of the responses of the shaken and non-shaken slopes under heavy rainfall revealed that cracks formed by earthquakes provided channels for infiltration. Soil particles in the cracks of slopes were washed away, and the pore water pressure increased rapidly, especially the transient pore water pressure in the slope caused by short-term concentrated rainfall which decreased rock strength and slope stability.     

The effect of plastic fines on the pore pressure generation characteristics of saturated sands

Pore water pressure generation during earthquake shaking initiates liquefaction and affects the shear strength, shear stiffness, deformation, and settlement characteristics of soil deposits. The effect of plastic fines (kaolinite) on pore pressure generation in saturated sands was studied through strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests. In addition to pore pressure generation, this experimental study also focused on evaluating the threshold shear strain for pore pressure generation and the volumetric compressibility of specimens during pore pressure dissipation. The results reveal that specimens having up to 20% plastic fines content generated larger values of pore water pressure than clean sand specimens. At 30% fines content, the excess pore water pressure decreased below that of clean sand. The threshold shear strain, which indicates the strain level above which pore pressures begin to generate, was assessed for different kaolinite–sand mixtures. The threshold shear strain was similar for 0–20% fines (γ_t0.006–0.008%), but increased to about 0.025% for 30% fines. The volumetric compressibility, measured after pore pressure generation, was similar for all specimens. The transition of behavior at fines contents between 20% and 30% can be attributed to a change in the soil structure from one dominated by sand grains to one dominated by fines.     

Centrifuge modeling of the behavior of caisson-type quay walls during earthquakes

A series of 2-D centrifuge modeling tests with an in-flight shaker were carried out in order to model both the deformation characteristics of backfill and the seismic responses of caisson-type walls embedded in soils with various permeabilities. The rotational and translational modes were found to be in phase or various degrees out of phase with each other for quay walls embedded in soils with varying permeabilities. The alternative pumping and suction processes in excess pore water pressure that are caused by a wall's vibrations increase the level of damage because large amounts of backfill are forcedly leaked into the sea. The test results show that the rotational mode makes the dominant contribution to the changes in excess pore water pressure and in the earth pressure in the deep layers of soil, but the translational mode makes the dominant contribution to these pressures in the shallow layers. The average shear wave velocities were found to decrease rapidly to values as low as 1/8th of the velocity measured at the beginning of shaking.     

Earthquake-related Changes in Groundwater Levels at the Dogo Hot Spring,Japan

The Dogo hot spring, situated in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, is one of the oldest and most famous hot springs in Japan. The groundwater level or discharge at the spring decreased four times during the past eight or nine Nankai earthquakes. These are large interplate earthquakes that have occurred repeatedly in the western part of the Nankai Trough at intervals of 100–200 years since A.D. 684. To clarify the mechanism of these earthquake-related changes in the water level at the spring, we analyzed groundwater-level data recorded at the spring immediately after the 1946 Nankai earthquake and over the period from 1985 to 2006. We detected the other nine postseismic increases in groundwater level and no decreases, except for a large decrease of 11.4 m related to the 1946 Nankai earthquake. The increases were probably caused by ground-shaking, while the decrease was caused by a change in coseismic volumetric strain. These results lead to the following explanation of the recorded earthquake-related changes in the groundwater level at the Dogo hot spring. Both coseismic changes in volumetric strain and ground-shaking can lead to postseismic changes in groundwater pressure. The increase in groundwater pressure arising from ground-shaking is generally greater than the change in pressure associated with changes in coseismic volumetric strain; however, at the time of the Nankai earthquakes, the spring experiences a large increase in coseismic volumetric strain, leading to a considerably larger decrease in the groundwater level than the increase associated with ground-shaking. Therefore, the groundwater level at the Dogo hot spring usually increases at times of relatively large earthquakes, although the groundwater level or discharge decreases in the case of the Nankai earthquakes.     

Evaluation of temperature and freeze–thaw effects on excess pore pressure generation of fine-grained soils

The November 3, 2002 Denali-Alaska earthquake (M_w=7.9) caused significant liquefaction associated damage to various infrastructure built on fine-grained soils. The seismic response, liquefaction potential, and excess pore pressure generation of soils in cold regions, especially those of fine-grained nature, have not been studied thoroughly and therefore are not well-understood. This paper presents results from an extensive laboratory study on the characteristics of excess pore pressure generation and liquefaction potential of fine-grained soils. Laboratory-constituted soils specimens were tested in four categories: (1) tests on specimens subjected to no thermal conditioning or freeze–thaw cycles; (2) tests on specimens conditioned at 24, 5, 1, 0.5, and −0.2 °C; (3) tests on specimens subjected to 1–4 freeze–thaw cycles; and (4) tests on specimens conditioned at near-freezing temperatures of 0.5 and −0.2 °C through different freeze–thaw paths. Strain-controlled, undrained, cyclic triaxial tests were performed at shear strain levels of 0.005–0.8%. Specimens conditioned at different temperatures were found to generate significantly different pore pressures with cyclic loading. The excess pore pressure generation at near or slightly below freezing was found to change dramatically. A transitional change in the dynamic soil behavior, attributed to unfrozen- or frozen-dominant pore water, was discovered. The threshold shear strain was also found to be influenced by the temperature. Subjecting the soil specimens to 1, 2 and 4 freeze–thaw cycles caused a reduction in excess pore pressure generation and slight change in the threshold shear strain. The temperature conditioning path to reach the target temperature was found to be important on the development of excess pore pressure at near and slightly below-freezing temperatures.     

Behavior of braced wall embedded in saturated liquefiable sand under seismic loading

It is well known that the generation of excess pore water pressure and/or liquefaction in foundation soils during an earthquake often cause structural failures.This paper describes the behavior of a small-scale braced wall embedded in saturated liquefiable sand under dynamic condition.Shake table tests are performed in the laboratory on embedded retaining walls with single bracing.The tests are conducted for different excavation depths and base motions.The influences of the peak magnitude of the ground motions and the excavation depth on the axial forces in the bracing,the lateral displacement and the bending moments in the braced walls are studied.The shake table tests are simulated numerically using FLAC 2D and the results are compared with the corresponding experimental results.The pore water pressures developed in the soil are found to influence the behavior of the braced wall structures during a dynamic event.It is found that the excess pore water pressure development in the soil below the excavation is higher compared to the soil beside the walls.Thus,the soil below the excavation level is more susceptible to the liquefaction compared to the soil beside the walls.     

A GLE-based model for seismic displacement analysis of slopes including strength degradation and geometry rearrangement

Seismic performance of natural slopes, earth structures and solid-waste landfills can be evaluated through displacement-based methods in which permanent displacements induced by earthquake loading are assumed to progressively develop along the critical sliding surface as a result of transient activation of plastic mechanisms within the soil mass. For sliding mechanisms of general shape the earthquake-induced displacements should be computed using a model that provides a closer approximation of sliding surface. When large permanent displacement are induced by seismic actions, due to substantial shear strength reduction, and significant changes in ground surface occur, an improved estimate of permanent displacement can be obtained using a model which accounts for shear strength reduction and mass transfer between adjacent portions of the slope resulting from geometry changes of ground surface during the seismic event.In this paper, a GLE-based model is proposed for seismic displacement analysis of slopes that accounts for shear strength degradation and for geometry rearrangement. Model accuracy is validated against experimental results obtained from shaking table tests carried out on small scale model slopes. Comparison of computed and experimental results demonstrates the capability of the proposed approach in capturing the main features of the observed seismic response of the model slopes.     

How hydrological factors initiate instability in a model sandy slope

Knowledge of the mechanisms of rain‐induced shallow landslides can improve the prediction of their occurrence and mitigate subsequent sediment disasters. Here, we examine an artificial slope's subsurface hydrology and propose a new slope stability analysis that includes seepage force and the down‐slope transfer of excess shear forces. We measured pore water pressure and volumetric water content immediately prior to a shallow landslide on an artificial sandy slope of 32°: The direction of the subsurface flow shifted from downward to parallel to the slope in the deepest part of the landslide mass, and this shift coincided with the start of soil displacement. A slope stability analysis that was restricted to individual segments of the landslide mass could not explain the initiation of the landslide; however, inclusion of the transfer of excess shear forces from up‐slope to down‐slope segments improved drastically the predictability. The improved stability analysis revealed that an unstable zone expanded down‐slope with an increase in soil water content, showing that the down‐slope soil initially supported the unstable up‐slope soil; destabilization of this down‐slope soil was the eventual trigger of total slope collapse. Initially, the effect of apparent soil cohesion was the most important factor promoting slope stability, but seepage force became the most important factor promoting slope instability closer to the landslide occurrence. These findings indicate that seepage forces, controlled by changes in direction and magnitude of saturated and unsaturated subsurface flows, may be the main cause of shallow landslides in sandy slopes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Physical modeling and visualization of soil liquefaction under high confining stress

The mechanisms of seismically-induced liquefaction of granular soils under high confining stresses are still not fully understood. Evaluation of these mechanisms is generally based on extrapolation of observed behavior at shallow depths. Three centrifuge model tests were conducted at RPI‘s experimental facility to investigate the effects of confining stresses on the dynamic response of a deep horizontal deposit of saturated sand. Liquefaction was observed at high confining stresses in each of the tests. A system identification procedure was used to estimate the associated shear strain and stress time histories. These histories revealed a response marked by shear strength degradation and dilative patterns. The recorded accelerations and pore pressures were employed to generate visual animations of the models. These visualizations revealed a liquefaction front traveling downward and leading to large shear strains and isolation of upper soil layers.     

Three-dimensional seismic analysis of submarine slopes

Three-dimensional effects in seismic analysis of submarine slopes are assessed by comparing results of two- and three-dimensional (2D & 3D) analyses, in terms of predicted displacements, shear strains, and excess pore water pressure ratios. Limits of applicability of the 2D, plane strain analysis assumptions are quantitatively assessed. Some regression equations are also presented that express ratios of 3D vs. 2D predictions as a function of slope width/height ratio and earthquake peak acceleration. It is found that the results of 2D and 3D dynamic slope stability analysis are within a tolerance of about 15% for width/height ratios larger than 3–5, and 3D effects induced by lateral boundaries become insignificant for width/height ratios larger than 6–7. The results of the present dynamic, fully coupled, non-linear analyses are also compared with those of static slope stability analyses.     

考虑动态临界加速度的地震边坡永久位移研究

Newmark永久位移是评价边坡在地震时稳定性的一个重要指标,近年来广泛应用于地震边坡危险性评价中。传统Newmark永久位移法在计算临界加速度时假定其为常数,未考虑滑动面上抗剪强度参数的变化,过低估计了边坡的永久位移。为了解决这一问题,本文从岩土结构理论获得思路,详细分析滑块底面抗剪强度参数在地震中的变化过程,以边坡震动过程中黏聚力逐步丧失为基本思路,在黏聚力符合一定概率分布的基础上,提出了一种利用蒙特卡罗法模拟其动态减小过程从而实现临界加速度动态变化的计算方法。经过算例计算,黏聚力和临界加速度体现了地震过程中边坡滑块黏聚力和临界加速度的动态变化,位移大小符合地震边坡实际位移的常规数值。本文提出的蒙特卡罗法实现动态黏聚力和动态临界加速度的计算过程与地震时程相对应,不仅在一定程度上解决了抗剪强度参数的动态变化问题,还解决了传统Newmark位移计算中永久位移比实际位移偏小的问题。     

Earthquake-related gravity field changes at Beijing-Tangshan gravimetric network during 1987–1998

Based on the 46 batch repeated observations of Beijing-Tangshan gravimetric network, the gravity field changes of the region during 1987–1998 have been determined. A comparison was made between the differences of these gravity field changes and the 8 reasonably large earthquake events (M_b≥ 4.0) in the region, showing the existence of the earthquake-related gravity field changes. It appears that there is usually a detectable change of a nearby gravity field well before an earthquake, followed by an opposite change afterwards.     

水渗透引起的应力场调整及岩石强度弱化的初步研究

本文采用二维线弹性的两相多孔介质理论,对水库蓄水后由水渗透引起的耦合应力变化及岩石强度弱化进行了数值模拟计算。结果表明,由于水的渗透使得岩石中的孔隙压力增大,耦合应力随之减小,从而导致岩石的有效应力减小,同时抗剪强度也相应减小,其减小的量值可以与地震时断层面上的应力降相比。根据计算结果,本文讨论了由水渗透引起地震的可能机制。