Dynamic response of a poro-elastic soil to the action of long water waves: Determination of the maximum liquefaction depth as an eigenvalue problem

In this work, a theoretical analysis of the dynamic response of a poro-elastic soil to the action of long water waves is conducted. For some combinations of the physical parameters of the soil and the water waves, the vertical stress tends towards zero at a certain unknown depth in the soil, as measured from the top of that medium. Under this condition, the liquefaction of the soil is imminent, at which time the excess pore pressure is essentially equal to the overburden soil pressure. Physical problems of this type have been widely studied in the specialized literature. However, most major studies have focused on solving the governing equations together with a liquefaction criterion. Here, the maximum momentary liquefaction depth induced by long water waves is considered as part of the problem, which is treated as an eigenvalue problem. To solve this problem, the governing equations are written in dimensionless form. The theoretical results show that for long waves, the horizontal displacements are smaller in magnitude than the vertical displacements, and when the wavelength or wave period increases, the maximum liquefaction also increases. Analytical solutions for the excess pore pressure and the horizontal and vertical displacements are obtained. The analytical results for the pore pressure are found to be very close to the analytical results reported in the specialized literature.