Development and Use of a Minicone for Liquefaction Risk Evaluation in Layered Soil Deposits
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper shows and compares the experimental results obtained by using a standard cone () and a mini piezocone (). Tests were carried out at Calendasco (Piacenza, Italy) in a natural soil deposit mainly consisting of clayey-sandy silts. Grain size distribution with depth was also available. Other tests were carried out at Cavezzo (Modena, Italy), where liquefaction-induced phenomena were observed during the May 29, 2012, seismic sequence. The purpose was to investigate capabilities and limitations of mini piezocone and to explore the possibility of obtaining a better prediction of soil stratigraphy in thin layered deposits. Systematic differences in terms of tip resistance and sleeve friction were not observed, even though, generally, standard mini. The spatial heterogeneity was considered responsible of the higher observed differences. In both test sites thin sandy layers are characterized by mini standard, with a ratio of the index as low as 0.88. This allows us to conclude that the minicone could be a valid alternative to the standard in identifying thin sandy layers.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Pagani Geotechnical Equipment (Piacenza, Italy), which provided all the equipment. The authors are thankful to Professor Paul W. Mayne and Dr. Barry Christopher for pointing out to Pagani the necessity of a commercial mini CPTu. Some boreholes and CPTu used to build the geological cross sections in the area of Cavezzo were carried out in the frame of the project Horizon 2020 LIQUEFACT (Assessment and Mitigation of Liquefaction Potential across Europe: A Holistic Approach to Protect Structures/Infrastructures for Improved Resilience to Earthquake-Induced Liquefaction Disasters). The LIQUEFACT project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant No. 700748. The authors would also thank (1) Professor C. Lai, Engineer F. Bozzoni, Professor R. Cosentini, and Engineer A Famà for the help in the interpretation of the boreholes and CPTu carried out during the LIQUEFACT project; (2) Dr. Geologist Martelli of Emilia Romagna Region for some boreholes and CPTu data; (3) the major of the Cavezzo municipality and the technical staff, in particular Engineer Agnese Malagoli and Architect Antonella Marcantoni for the logistic support during the CPTu tests carried out in March 2019. This research was partially funded by University of Pavia in the framework of a research grant award “assegno di tipo A premiale” for research activities at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, within the research project entitled “Sustainable Groundwater Resources Management by Integrating A-DInSAR Derived Monitoring and Flow Modeling Results” assigned to Roberta Bonì in March 2019. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 2 • February 2021
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 31, 2019
Accepted: Sep 22, 2020
Published online: Dec 9, 2020
Published in print: Feb 1, 2021
Discussion open until: May 9, 2021
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