Verification of the Soil-Type Specific Correlation between Liquefaction Resistance and Shear-Wave Velocity of Sand by Dynamic Centrifuge Test
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
Liquefaction of granular soil deposits is one of the major causes of loss resulting from earthquakes. The accuracy of the liquefaction potential assessment at a site affects the safety and economy of an engineering project. Although shear-wave velocity -based methods have become prevailing, very few works have addressed the problem of the reliability of various relationships between liquefaction resistance (CRR) and used in practices. In this paper, both cyclic triaxial and dynamic centrifuge model tests were performed on saturated Silica sand No. 8 with measurements using bender elements to investigate the reliability of the correlation previously proposed by the authors. The test results show that the semiempirical curve derived from laboratory liquefaction test of Silica sand No. 8 can accurately classify the database produced by dynamic centrifuge test of the same sand, while other existing correlations based on various sandy soils will significantly under or overestimate the cyclic resistance of this sand. This study verifies that curve for liquefaction assessment is strongly soil-type dependent, and it is necessary to develop site-specific liquefaction resistance curves from laboratory cyclic tests for engineering practices.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Much of the work described in this paper was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Project) (Grant No. UNSPECIFIED2007CB714203), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. NNSFC50908207 and NNSFC50708095), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. UNSPECIFIED20080430219 and UNSPECIFIED20081476), and Foundation for Seismological Researches, China Earthquake Administration (Grant No. UNSPECIFIED200808022). These financial supports are gratefully acknowledged. The writers thank Dr. Yoshiharu Asaka, Dr. Hideyuki Mano, Dr. Hiroyuki Hotta, Mr. Akira Ishikawa, Mr. Tohru Abe, and Mr. Katsumi Yoshinari of Institute of Technology, Shimizu Corporation, for their valuable exchanges of ideas and help about this study. Professor Jonathan P. Stewart of University of California (UCLA) and the anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated for their insightful comments and suggestions to improve this paper.
References
Aguirre, J., and Irikura, K. (1997). “Nonlinearity, liquefaction, and velocity variation of soft soil layers in Port Island, Kobe, during the Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake.” Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 87(5), 1244–1258.
Alba, P. D., Baldwin, K., Janoo, V., Roe, G., and Celikkol, B. (1984). “Elastic-wave velocities and liquefaction potential.” Geotech. Test. J., 7(2), 77–87.
Andrus, R. D., and Stokoe, K. H., II (2000). “Liquefaction resistance of soils from shear-wave velocity.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 126(11), 1015–1025.
Andrus, R. D., Stokoe, K. H., II, and Juang, C. H. (2004). “Guide for shear wave-based liquefaction potential evaluation.” Earthquake Spectra, 20(2), 285–308.
Arango, I. (1996). “Magnitude scaling factors for soil liquefaction evaluations.” J. Geotech. Eng., 122(11), 929–936.
Arulanandan, K., and Scott, R. F., eds. (1993). “Verification of numerical procedures for the analysis of soil liquefaction problems, Vols. 1 and 2.” Proc., Int. Conf. on the Verification of Numerical Procedures for the Analysis of Soil Liquefaction Problems, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Arulnathan, R., Boulanger, R. W., Kutter, B. L., and Sluis, W. K. (2000). “New tool for shear wave velocity measurements in model tests.” Geotech. Test. J., 23(4), 444–453.
Baxter, C. D. P., Bradshaw, A. S., Green, R. A., and Wang, J. -H. (2008). “Correlation between cyclic resistance and shear-wave velocity for providence silts.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 134(1), 37–46.
Boulanger, R. W. (2003). “High overburden stress effects in liquefaction analyses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 129(12), 1071–1082.
Brandenberg, S. J., Choi, S., Kutter, B. L., Wilson, D. W., and Santamarina, J. C. (2006). “A bender element system for measuring shear wave velocities in centrifuge models.” Proc., Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 6th ICPMG ’06, C. W. W. Ng, L. M. Zhang, and Y. H. Wang, eds., Balkema, Leiden, The Netherlands, 165–170.
Byrne, P. M., Park, S. -S., Beaty, M., Sharp, M. K., Gonzalez, L., and Abdoun, T. (2004). “Numerical modeling of liquefaction and comparison with centrifuge tests.” Can. Geotech. J., 41(2), 193–211.
Cascante, G., and Santamarina, J. C. (1996). “Interparticle contact behavior and wave propagation.” J. Geotech. Eng., 122(10), 831–839.
Chen, Y. M., Ke, H., and Chen, R. P. (2005). “Correlation of shear wave velocity with liquefaction resistance based on laboratory tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 25(6), 461–469.
Chen, Y. M., and Zhou, Y. G. (2006). “Technique standardization of bender elements and international parallel test.” Proc., Sessions of GeoShanghai 2006: Soil and Rock Behavior and Modeling, R. Luna, Z. S. Hong, G. W. Ma, and M. S. Huang, eds., Geotech. Special Publication No. 150, ASCE, Reston, Va., 90–97.
Cho, G. C., Dodds, J., and Santamarina, J. C. (2006). “Particle shape effects on packing density, stiffness, and strength: Natural and crushed sands.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 132(5), 591–602.
Dobry, R., Stokoe, K. H., II, Ladd, R. S., and Youd, T. L. (1981). “Liquefaction susceptibility from S-wave velocity.” Proc., ASCE Nat. Convention, In Situ Tests to Evaluate Liquefaction Susceptibility, ASCE, New York.
Elgamal, A., Yang, Z., and Parra, E. (2002). “Computational modeling of cyclic mobility and post-liquefaction site response.” Soil. Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 22(4), 259–271.
Fu, L., Zeng, X., and Figueroa, J. L. (2004). “Shear wave velocity measurement in centrifuge using bender elements.” Int. J. Phys. Modell. Geotech., 4(2), 1–11.
Gohl, W. B., and Finn, W. D. L. (1987). “Seismic response of Pile foundation in a centrifuge.” Proc., Int. Symp. Prediction and Performance in Geotechnical Engineer, R. C. Joshi and F. J. Griffiths, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 419–426.
Green, R. A., and Terri, G. A. (2005). “Number of equivalent cycles concept for liquefaction evaluations—Revisited.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(4), 477–488.
Hardin, B. O., and Blandford, G. E. (1989). “Elasticity of particulate materials.” J. Geotech. Eng., 115(6), 788–805.
Hardin, B. O., and Drnevich, V. P. (1972). “Shear modulus and damping in soils: Design equations and curves.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., 98(7), 667–692.
Hryciw, R. D., and Thomann, T. G. (1993). “Stress-history-based model for of cohesionless soils.” J. Geotech. Eng., 119(7), 1073–1093.
Huang, Y. -T., Huang, A. -B., Kuo, Y. -C., and Tsai, M. -D. (2004). “A laboratory study on the undrained strength of a silty sand from central Taiwan.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 24(9–10), 733–743.
Idriss, I. M., and Boulanger, R. W. (2006). “Semi-empirical procedures for evaluating liquefaction potential during earthquakes.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 26(2–4), 115–130.
Ishihara, K. (1996). Soil behavior in earthquake geotechnics, Oxford University Press, New York.
Juang, C. H., Chen, C. J., and Jiang, T. (2001). “Probabilistic framework for liquefaction potential by shear wave velocity.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 127(8), 670–678.
Juang, C. H., Yang, S. H., and Yuan, H. (2005). “On the model uncertainty of shear wave velocity-based methods for liquefaction potential evaluation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(10), 1274–1282.
Kawaguchi, T., Mitachi, T., and Shibuya, S. (2001). “Evaluation of shear wave travel time in laboratory bender element test.” Proc., 15th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 155–158.
Kita, K., Shibata, T., Yashima, A., and Kobayashi, S. (1992). “Measurement of shear wave velocities of sand in a centrifuge.” Soils Found., 31(2), 134–140.
Lee, J. S., and Santamarina, J. C. (2005). “Bender elements: Performance and signal interpretation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(9), 1063–1070.
Lee, J. S., and Santamarina, J. C. (2007). “Seismic monitoring short-duration events: Liquefaction in 1g models.” Can. Geotech. J., 44(6), 659–672.
Liao, S. S. C., and Whitman, R. V. (1986). “Catalogue of liquefaction and non-liquefaction occurrences during earthquakes.” Research Rep. Prepared for Dept. of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Liu, A. H., Stewart, J. P., Abrahamson, N. A., and Moriwaki, Y. (2001). “Equivalent number of uniform stress cycles for soil liquefaction analysis.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 127(12), 1017–1026.
Mulilis, J. P., Seed, H. B., Chan, C. K., Mitchell, J. K., and Arulanandan, K. (1977). “Effects of sample preparation on sand liquefaction.” J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., 103(2), 91–108.
Patel, A., Bartake, P. P., and Singh, D. N. (2009). “An empirical relationship for determining shear wave velocity in granular materials accounting for grain morphology.” Geotech. Test. J., 32(1), 1–10.
Rammah, K. I., Ismail, M. A., and Fahey, M. (2006). “Development of a centrifuge seismic tomography system at UWA.” Proc., Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 6th ICPMG ’06, C. W. W. Ng, L. M. Zhang, and Y. H. Wang, eds., Balkema, Leiden, The Netherlands, 229–234.
Robertson, P. K., Woeller, D. J., and Finn, W. D. L. (1992). “Seismic cone penetration test for evaluating liquefaction potential under cyclic loading.” Can. Geotech. J., 29(4), 686–695.
Santamarina, J. C., Klein, K. A., and Fam, M. A. (2001). Soils and waves: Particulate materials behavior, characterization, and process monitoring, Wiley, New York.
Sato, M. (1994). “A new dynamic geotechnical centrifuge and performance of shaking table tests.” Proc., Int. Conf. Centrifuge 94, C. F. Leung, F. H. Lee, and T. S. Tan, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 157–162.
Seed, H. B. (1979). “Soil liquefaction and cyclic mobility evaluation for level ground during earthquakes.” J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., 105(2), 201–255.
Seed, H. B., and Idriss, I. M. (1971). “Simplified procedure for evaluating soil liquefaction potential.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., 97(9), 1249–1273.
Seed, H. B., and Idriss, I. M. (1982). “Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes.” Monograph series—Enginereing monographs on earthquake criteria, structural design, and strong motion records, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Berkeley, Calif.
Seed, H. B., Idriss, I. M., Makdisi, F., and Banerjee, N. (1975). “Representation of irregular stress time histories by equivalent uniform stress series in liquefaction analyses.” Rep. No. UCB/EERC 75-29, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif.
Sharp, M. K., Dobry, R., and Abdoun, T. (2003). “Liquefaction centrifuge modeling of sands of different permeability.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 129(12), 1083–1091.
Steedman, R. S., and Zeng, X. (1995). “Dynamics.” Geotechnical centrifuge technology, R. N. Taylor, ed., Blackie Academic & Professional, Glasgow, U.K., 168–195.
Taiebat, M., Shahir, H., and Pak, A. (2007). “Study of pore pressure variation during liquefaction using two constitutive models for sand.” Soil. Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 27(1), 60–72.
Taylor, R. N. (1995). “Centrigues in modelling: Principles and scale effects.” Geotechnical centrifuge technology, R. N. Taylor, ed., Blackie Academic & Professional, Glasgow, U.K., 19–33.
Tokimatsu, K., and Uchida, A. (1990). “Correlation between liquefaction resistance and shear wave velocity.” Soils Found., 30(2), 33–42.
Tokimatsu, K., Yamazako, T., and Yoshimi, Y. (1986). “Soil liquefaction evaluations by elastic shear moduli.” Soils Found., 26(1), 25–35.
Wang, J. -H., Moran, K., and Baxter, C. D. P. (2006). “Correlation between cyclic resistance ratios of intact and reconstituted offshore saturated sands and silts with the same shear wave velocity.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 132(12), 1574–1580.
Wang, W. S. (2001). “Utilization of shear wave velocity in assessment of liquefaction potential of saturated sand under level ground druing earthquakes.” Chinese J. Geotech. Eng., 23(6), 655–658 (in Chinese).
Youd, T. L., et al. (2001). “Liquefaction resistance of soils: Summary report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF workshops on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 127(10), 817–833.
Zeng, X., and Arulanandan, K. (1994). “Overview of calibration of constitutive models and soil parameters,” Verifications of numerical procedures for the analysis of soil liquefaction problem, Vol. 2, K. Arulanandan and F. F. Scott, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1717–1772.
Zeng, X., and Ni, B. (1999). “Stress-induced anisotropic Gmax of sands and its measurements.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 125(9), 741–749.
Zeng, X., Wu, J., and Young, B. A. (1998). “Influence of viscous fluids on properties of sand.” Geotech. Test. J., 21(1), 45–51.
Zhou, Y. G. (2007). “Soil structure: The shear wave velocity-based characterization and its effects on dynamic behavior.” Ph.D. dissertation, Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China (in Chinese).
Zhou, Y. G., and Chen, Y. M. (2005). “Influence of seismic cyclic loading history on small strain shear modulus of saturated sands.” Soil. Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 25(5), 341–353.
Zhou, Y. G., and Chen, Y. M. (2007). “Laboratory investigation on assessing liquefaction resistance of sandy soils by shear wave velocity.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 133(8), 959–972.
Zhou, Y. G., Chen, Y. M., and Ding, H. J. (2005). “Analytical solutions to piezoelectric bimorphs based on improved FSDT beam model.” Smart Struct. Systems, 1(3), 309–324.
Zhou, Y. G., Chen, Y. M., and Ling, D. S. (2009a). “Shear wave velocity-based liquefaction evaluation in the great Wenchuan earthquake: A preliminary case study.” Earthquake Eng. Eng. Vib., 8(2), 231–239.
Zhou, Y. G., Chen, Y. M., Shamoto, Y., and Hotta, H. (2009b). “Centrifuge model test on earthquake-induced differential settlement of foundation on cohesive ground.” Sci. China, Ser. E: Technol. Sci., 52(7), 2138–2146.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 165 - 177
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 21, 2008
Accepted: Jul 2, 2009
Published online: Jul 17, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.