Centrifuge modeling of loose fill embankment subjected to uni-axial and bi-axial earthquakes

The seismic risk is fairly high in Hong Kong even though it is located in an intreplate area with low to moderate seismicity. This is because of its high seismic vulnerability due to the presence of many steep loose fill slopes with a marginal static factor of safety, and a high consequence ‘value’ as a result of the dense population and intense economic activity in Hong Kong. In order to investigate the seismic stability and potential flow liquefaction of loose fill slopes, dynamic centrifuge tests in uni-axial and bi-axial directions were performed on saturated model embankments made of loose completely decomposed granite (CDG). Three windowed sinusoidal waves with peak shaking amplitudes ranging from 0.08 g to 0.3 g (prototype scale) were adopted. During the strong uni-axial shaking of 0.3 g, the measured maximum excess pore pressure ratios ranged from 0.70 to 0.85 and a relatively small crest settlement of 5.8 mm (0.22 m prototype) was measured. No soil liquefaction or flow slides were observed. Comparing the results between the strong uni-axial and bi-axial shaking, the maximum pore pressure ratios measured from the bi-axial test varied from 0.75 to 0.87, which were marginally larger than those obtained from the uni-axial test. Although the measured crest settlement during the bi-axial shaking was about 27% larger than that of the uni-axial test, soil liquefaction and flow slide did not occur. These test results suggest that loose CDG fill slopes are likely to be stable under the proposed design PGA ranging from 0.08 to 0.11 g in Hong Kong.