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For ensuring the earth dam's stability of Wangqingtuo reservoir when silt liquefaction happens during Tangshan earthquake, a large amount of laboratory soil tests and field measurements have been performed to obtain the mechanic properties of the soil and silt dynamic parameters. On the basis of the soil tests, the equivalent linear constitutive model is employed in the dynamic numerical simulation of the typical dam and the results indicate that the shear deformation is induced by the foundation liquefaction with the help of the geo-slope software. Moreover, the stability analysis is performed using the finite element elasto-plastic model that is considered the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria to calculate the stability factor. The factors indicate the local instability would take place because of the shear action. At last, the measures are introduced to the designers for preventing the dam from the instability.

Unconsolidated soft sediments deform and mix complexly by seismically induced fluidization. Such geological soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDSs) recorded in boring cores were imaged by X-ray computed tomography (CT), which enables visualization of the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of iron-bearing mineral grains as strong X-ray absorbers in the deformed strata. Multifractal analysis was applied to the two-dimensional (2D) CT images with various degrees of deformation and mixing. The results show that the distribution of the iron-bearing mineral grains is multifractal for less deformed/mixed strata and almost monofractal for fully mixed (i.e. almost homogenized) strata. Computer simulations of deformation of real and synthetic digital images were performed using the egg-beater flow model. The simulations successfully reproduced the transformation from the multifractal spectra into almost monofractal spectra (i.e. almost convergence on a single point) with an increase in deformation/mixing intensity. The present study demonstrates that multifractal analysis coupled with X-ray CT and the mixing flow model is useful to quantify the complexity of seismically induced SSDSs, standing as a novel method for the evaluation of cores for seismic risk assessment.

Offshore wind turbine (OWT) structures are subject to wave, wind, and seismic loading. Due to the cyclic nature of these loads, OWT foundations can be vulnerable to cumulative deformation and liquefaction triggered by waves and earthquakes. The effects of cumulative deformation and liquefaction on the monopile-supported OWT are not fully appreciated. This paper develops a three-dimensional numerical model for analyzing the seismic performance of large monopile-supported OWT under the long-term effect of cyclic loading. The numerical model was established employing FLAC3D and utilizing SANISAND constitutive model to simulate the soil behavior. The numerical model was validated by comparing its predictions with the results of dynamic triaxial tests and centrifuge tests. A simplified densification and subsidence site model was integrated into the numerical model to facilitate considering the long-term effect of cyclic loading. The numerical model was then used to conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate the influence of long-term cyclic loading on the natural frequency and seismic response of OWT structure. The results demonstrated that the densified subsidence zone around monopile increased the liquefaction resistance. However, the horizontal displacement of pile and the response acceleration of tower-top increased due to soil subsidence around monopile.

It is well known that local soil conditions play a key role in the amplification of earthquake waves. In particular, a liquefiable shallow soil layer may produce a significant influence on ground motion during strong earthquakes. In this paper, the response of a liquefiable site during the 1995 Kobe earthquake is studied using vertical array records, with particular attention on the effects of nonlinear soil behaviour and liquefaction on the ground motion. Variations of the characteristics of the recorded ground motions are analysed using the spectral ratio technique, and the nonlinearity occurring in the shallow liquefied layer during earthquake is identified. A fully coupled, inelastic finite element analysis of the response of the array site is performed. The calculated stress–strain histories of soils and excess pore water pressures at different depths are presented, and their relations to the characteristics of the ground motions are addressed.

Selected case histories recording the behaviour of piled foundations in lateral-spreading fields are reviewed. From these observations and from laboratory experiments in the centrifuge and on the shaking table, it is clear that the resistance of liquefied soil is very small and that the critical points for a pile are at the bottom as well as near the top of the liquefied layer. It is also apparent that liquefaction does not occur until a significant threshold level of shaking is exceeded, and that even then it does not occur instantaneously. Thus damaging motions can be felt by the pile and transmitted to the superstructure before liquefaction and lateral spreading occurs. There is a critical period early in the shaking when the soil has softened enough for ground motion to be amplified but is still stiff enough to induce large bending moments in the pile, near the top of the liquefiable layer. Liquefaction is certainly not a dependable base-isolation mechanism. A controversial issue concerns the continuity or localisation of displacement within the liquefied layer. There is evidence that, in the majority of cases, displacement within the liquefied layer is continuous with depth; although when a sufficiently impermeable layer overlies the liquefiable one, a layer of free water can accumulate and localise displacement. Another old controversy, which now seems to be resolved, concerns the generation of passive earth pressures in non-liquefiable surface layers. There is clear field and laboratory evidence for the development of the passive state in superficial layers. For use in every-day design, two simple methods of analysis have recently emerged. They are the earth pressure method and the seismic deformation method. They have been calibrated against the Kobe data and appear to work well in the few cases where they have been checked on other soils. It remains for them to be verified against a broader range of soils and for further soil-spring models.

Computational simulations are presented for a unique series of centrifuge tests conducted to assess the performance of liquefaction countermeasure techniques. In these centrifuge tests, the dynamic response of an embankment supported on a liquefiable foundation (medium sand) is investigated. The experimental series included: (i) a benchmark test without a liquefaction countermeasure, (ii) foundation densification below the embankment toe, and (iii) use of a sheet-pile containment enclosure below the embankment. This series of experiments documents a wide range of practical liquefaction response mechanisms (including countermeasure implementation). In order to numerically simulate the above centrifuge tests, a new calibrated soil stress-strain constitutive model is incorporated into a two-phase (solid-fluid) fully coupled Finite Element formulation. Comparison of the computational and experimental results demonstrates: (i) importance of post-liquefaction dilative soil behavior in dictating the dynamic response and deformation characteristics of the embankment-foundation system, and (ii) capabilities and limitations of the numerical modeling procedure.

A centrifuge testing study is conducted to investigate the effect of over-consolidation on liquefaction in clean saturated sand deposits. Thirty-four shaking tests on 11 level-ground models are performed. Soil models with Over-Consolidation Ratios (OCRs) of 1, 2, and 4 at relative densities of 35%, 50%, and 70% are tested. Model response to dynamic base shaking is monitored with accelerometers, pore pressure transducers, and displacement gauges. Test data show that the potential for liquefaction decreases with the increase in OCR, relative density, and prior shaking. The threshold peak acceleration needed to induce excess pore pressure increases as the OCR increases. Over-consolidated sand layers subjected to lower levels of excitation do not experience any excess pore pressure buildup even when shaken for a long duration. For acceleration marginally above the threshold, pore pressure buildup may be mild and liquefaction may be unlikely. As such, preloading can be a practical cost-effective liquefaction remedial technique in sandy soils under earthquake loading scenarios resulting in peak acceleration of up to about 0.15 g.

A coupled continuum-discrete hydromechanical model was employed to analyse the effects of cementation on the dynamic response of liquefiable deposits of granular soils. The discrete element method was used to idealise the solid phase and parallel bonds were utilised to model the inter-particle cementations. The pore fluid flow was addressed using averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The conducted simulations revealed a number of salient response patterns and mechanisms. Cemented granular soils were found to be generally highly resistant to liquefaction. However, full cementation of a shallow site may lead to a significant amplification of ground accelerations. A base isolation mechanism develops when a site is partially cemented and mitigates ground shaking hazard. The employed modeling approach provides an effective tool to assess the intricate micro-mechanical response mechanisms of saturated cemented soils.

Experimental and numerical simulations are performed to evaluate the modification of ground response resulting from either the presence of soft layers or occurrence of partial liquefaction. Results from two densely instrumented dynamic centrifuge tests are presented to show the ambiguous role played by the presence of a soft layer. It was found that the lateral extent of the soft layer has significant influence on the overall response of the layered strata and any structure founded on it. The experimental observations are supported by simplified numerical analysis. The amplification or deamplification of the input motion is found to be a function of the ratio of the width of soft layer to the wave length. Based on the numerical analysis, a general function describing the site amplification is presented which may be used as a guide in seismic design of foundations in such layered strata.

Two well-documented case histories on liquefaction of reclaimed fills during the 1995 Kobe earthquake are discussed in this paper. The two sites, Vertical Array site (VA-site) and Packing House site (PH-site) are in proximity to each other and have practically identical stratification with an 18 m thick fill layer overlying an alluvial clay layer. At the VA-site, no ground improvement had been implemented and the reclaimed deposit of gravelly sand is loose with a low SPT blow count of about 5 to 10. The fill layer at the PH-site, on the other hand, had been densified prior to the earthquake by means of the rod compaction technique resulting in an increase in the SPT resistance to approximately 20 to 30 blow counts. To investigate the effects of ground treatment and evaluate the difference in the ground response between the densified fills and undensified loose fills during the Kobe earthquake, detailed studies were conducted for the two sites including field investigations, laboratory tests and effective stress analyses. It was found that both the extent of liquefaction and ground deformation were significantly different at the two sites. The undensified loose fills at the VA-site completely liquefied below the water table resulting in maximum shear strains of about 4% and settlement of the ground of about 25–30 cm. On the other hand, the analyses reveal that only the deep part of the densified fills at the PH-site liquefied where the maximum shear strains are estimated to have reached 2% and settlement of the ground was about 8 cm. Thus, the densification of the fills was found to be effective in preventing liquefaction from developing at shallow depths of the deposit and in limiting the overall deformation and settlement of the ground.

The remediation of Sardis Dam in Mississippi to prevent potential sliding upstream along a thin liquefiable layer in the foundation is described. The upstream slope of the embankment was stabilised by nailing it to stable foundation soils using prestressed concrete piles with 0.6 m² cross-section. This was an innovative and unusual solution in addition to being cost-effective. The paper explains how the moments and shears for design of the piles were obtained. The analytical procedures developed for this project have since been used on several dams with similar problems.

A coupled stress-flow finite element procedure, based on dynamic Biot equations, was used to analyze the behavior of pipe buried in liquefiable soil. The governing equations, soil constitutive model, finite element discretization and solutions were described. The results of analysis were compared with two cases of dynamic centrifuge test of soil deposit and pipe conducted at 30 g acceleration field. The horizontal soil deposit was analyzed followed by the deposit having a buried pipe of diameter 10 cm (3 m in prototype). The deposit was composed of loose Nevada sand that was saturated with a viscous solution in satisfying the similitude rules of time for the dynamic event and diffusion phenomena. The response of the ground, such as acceleration and excess pore water pressure, and the earth pressure and uplifting of the pipe, were presented and compared. The results of analysis indicated that a coupled stress-flow finite element procedure where the soil was expressed by Pastor–Zienkiewicz Mark-III model was able to simulate the dynamic response of the soil and pipe up to the stage of liquefaction. Several other issues related to the analysis were discussed.

This paper presents the results of laboratory investigation carried out on Ahmedabad sand on the liquefaction and pore water pressure generation during strain controled cyclic loading. Laboratory experiments were carried out on representative natural sand samples (base sand) collected from earthquake-affected area of Ahmedabad City of Gujarat State in India. A series of strain controled cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on isotropically compressed samples to study the influence of different parameters such as shear strain amplitude, initial effective confining pressure, relative density and percentage of non-plastic fines on the behavior of liquefaction and pore water pressure generation. It has been observed from the laboratory investigation that the potential for liquefaction of the sandy soils depends on the shear strain amplitude, initial relative density, initial effective confining pressure and non-plastic fines. In addition, an empirical relationship between pore pressure ratio and cycle ratio independent of the number of cycles of loading, relative density, confining pressure, amplitude of shear strain and non-plastic fines has been proposed.

In an earthquake, underground structures located in liquefiable soil deposits are susceptible to floatation following an earthquake event due to their lower unit weight relative to the surrounding saturated soil. Such uplift response of the buoyant structure is influenced by the soil it is buried in. In the case of a liquefiable soil deposit, the soil can lose its shear strength significantly in the event of an earthquake. If the soil liquefies fully, the buoyant structure can float towards the soil surface. However, a partly liquefied soil deposit retains some of its initial shear strength and resists the uplift. This paper discusses the different soil conditions and their influence on the uplift response of buoyant structures.

There have been many costly damages of group-pile foundation of bridge-pier in soft or saturated-medium dense sandy ground after strong earthquakes. This study investigated the dynamic behavior of a 2 × 2 bridge-pier–group-pile foundation installed in a two-layer ground commonly found in Japan. A series of three-dimensional (3D) effective stress analysis, which adopted advanced cyclic elasto-plastic soil model and nonlinear axial force dependence reinforced-concrete model, has been implemented to demonstrate the interaction between the soil–group-pile–bridge-pier during an earthquake of the magnitude of the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The damages of the 2 × 2 group-pile foundation have been quantitatively found to be either caused by the inertial loading of the superstructure or the kinematic interaction of the soils.

On May 20, 2012 at 2:03 UTC, a Mw 6.1 earthquake occurred in Emilia Region of Northern Italy. The event was preceded by a Ml 4.1 foreshock on May 19, 2012 at 23:13 UTC, and followed by several aftershocks, twenty of them with a magnitude Mw greater than 4. The epicentral area of the seismic sequence covers alluvial lowland that is occupied by both agricultural and urbanized areas. Liquefaction effects were observed in several villages on the west side of Ferrara which were built upon former river beds such as the Reno River. The Emilia seismic sequence resulted in 27 casualties, several of whom were among the workers in the factories that collapsed during working hours, and there was extensive damage to monuments, public buildings, industrial sites and private homes. Almost no municipalities hit by 2012 earthquake were classified as seismic area before 2003; therefore, most of the existing structures had been designed without taking in account the seismic actions. The main aims of MCEER field mission was to document the emergency response and the most common damage mechanisms of industrial sheds during Emilia earthquake sequence which are shown and discussed in detail.

In this study, liquefaction and earthquake response analysis of Panipat pond ash embankment in India has been carried out considering saturated and natural water table conditions. Laboratory and field studies have been carried out to obtain the material properties required for the nonlinear response analysis of the Panipat pond ash embankment. Nonlinear finite element analysis has been carried out by using open system for earthquake engineering simulation (OpenSees). Three earthquakes namely Chamba, Chamoli and Uttarkashi earthquakes have been considered for liquefaction and earthquake response analysis. The standard penetration test (SPT)-$N$ value indicates that the ash deposit in Panipat pond ash embankment is in loose to medium dense state. The excess pore pressure ratio obtained from the analysis is found to be one or more than one below upstream and downstream locations of the pond ash embankment for both saturated and natural water table conditions. The horizontal and vertical displacement is found to be maximum near the toe and first rise slope of pond ash embankment. Hence, ash embankment in Panipat is prone to liquefaction under the excitation of moderate to high earthquake loading.

Reducing the risk of structural damage due to earthquake-induced liquefaction in new and existing buildings is a challenging problem in geotechnical engineering. Drainage countermeasure techniques against liquefaction have been studied over the last decades with an emphasis on the use of vertical drains. This technique aims to allow a rapid dissipation of excess pore pressures generated in the soil during the earthquake thereby limiting the peak excess pore pressures and consequently improve the structural response. Rapid drainage in the post-earthquake period in the presence of these drains helps quick recovery of the soil strength. Recent studies propose different variations in the vertical drains arrangement to improve the excess pore pressure redistribution in the soil around structures. However, conventional arrangements for existing buildings do not achieve an adequate proximity from the drains to the soil below the foundation. To address this, the performance of inclined and vertical perimeter drain arrangements are studied in this paper. Dynamic centrifuge tests were carried out for the different arrangements in order to evaluate the excess pore pressure generation due to ground shaking and the following dissipation together with the foundation settlement and dynamic response.

Several studies on liquefaction using physical model tests and numerical analysis have been conducted in recent years; however, few studies have investigated the effect of liquefaction-induced settlement on structures. Especially, this settlement seriously influences on gravity foundation during earthquake. This study aims to investigate the settlement of the surrounding ground of steel pipe sheet pile (SPSP) foundation during liquefaction by using an effective stress analysis. 2D numerical modeling was used in this study and the behavior of undrained soil was idealized using a cocktail glass model. The numerical results were compared with experimental results from a 1-G shaking table test with a scale of 1:60. The results indicate that the settlement of surface ground and SPSP foundation rapidly increase when the liquefaction occurs and is significantly influenced by permeability coefficient of ground.

Shallow footings are the most preferred foundations for buildings due to low cost and ease of construction. However, under seismic loads, these foundations may suffer excessive settlements, particularly when there is a risk of soil liquefaction. This paper explores the effectiveness of granular columns in mitigating the liquefaction-induced ground deformations under shallow foundations, using FLAC2D program. PM4Sand, a critical state-based bounding surface plasticity model is used to simulate the stress–strain response of sand to cyclic loading. The responses of granular columns are also simulated using the same soil model. Validation of the numerical model is presented against the experimental results of mildly sloping ground. The application of granular column groups resulted in maximum reduction of the settlement of footing by 60% when soil densification is included along with drainage and stress redistribution effects. Though excess pore water pressure is relatively low in treated deposit compared to the untreated deposit, its contribution to the reduction in settlement of footing is found to be minimal.