LPI-based approach for calibrating the severity of liquefaction-induced failures and for assessing the probability of liquefaction surface evidence

Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI) is used as an assessing tool of liquefaction susceptibility. Based on the existing correlation of the LPI values with the liquefaction potential of a site, liquefaction hazard maps have been compiled. The evaluation of liquefaction susceptibility of the soil layers that had been taken into account for the calculation of LPI value, on the existing classifications, was based on the “Chinese criteria”. However, Seed et al. [Seed, R.B., Cetin, K.O., Moss, R.E.S., Kammerer, A.M., Wu, J., Pestana, J.M., Riemer, M.F., Sancio, R.B., Bray, J.D., Kayen, R.E., Faris, A., 2003. Recent advances in soil liquefaction engineering: a unified and consistent framework. 26th annual ASCE L.A. Geotechnical Spring Seminar, Long Beach, California. 71 pp.] concluded that those criteria are conservative and proposed a modification of them.The basic aim of this paper is to examine the impact of these modifications to the existing LPI-based calibrations of severity scale of liquefaction-induced failures and to propose a new one if it is needed, using box–whisker plot method. The data set that was analyzed is compiled by borings with SPT from liquefied and non-liquefied sites in Taiwan, in Turkey and in Greece.Moreover, a LPI-based formula is proposed, as an outcome from the application of logistic regression analysis to the data set, which can be used for predicting the liquefaction surface occurrence. In addition, a discriminant function is suggested for classifying a site as liquefiable or not. In this approach, the LPI and the thickness of the non-liquefiable cap layer are taken into account as the classification parameters.