2022 H. Bolton Seed Memorial Lecture: Evaluating Liquefaction Effects
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 8
Abstract
The potential effects of soil liquefaction at level ground sites should be evaluated through examining soil element responses of the individual soil layers and system responses of the soil deposits they form. The cyclic responses and postliquefaction volumetric strain of uniform clean sand, sandy gravel, nonplastic silty sand, and nonplastic silt at the element level can be captured in a unified manner using relative density or the state parameter. The depositional environment should be characterized because geologic details, such as soil fabric, which can be discerned through detailed logging of high-quality continuous sampling, are important in evaluating liquefaction effects. Effective stress analysis enables soil system responses that govern the effects of liquefaction, including the formation of ejecta, to be investigated. A calibrated cone penetration test (CPT) procedure employing the liquefaction ejecta demand parameter captures key aspects of system response and provides an estimate of ejecta-induced building settlement. A probabilistic CPT-based procedure for estimating postliquefaction ground settlement is developed using laboratory and field case history databases. Correlations are developed to estimate or to enable use of the laboratory-based volumetric strain models. Adjustment factors enable the procedure to capture field observations of postliquefaction ground settlement. The proposed ground settlement procedure is combined with shear and ejecta-induced settlement procedures to estimate liquefaction-induced building settlement.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
Support for this research was provided primarily by grants from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) through CMMI-1956248 and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) through Agreement 65A0774 Amendment TO-005. The findings, opinions, and conclusions presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors. The NSF-sponsored Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association funding through Grant CMMI-1266418 enabled researchers to document and learn from the case histories discussed in this article. Additionally, the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), provided support through the Faculty Chair in Earthquake Engineering Excellence. The numerous significant contributions of Professor H. Bolton Seed over his distinguished career are recognized. Prof. Kenji Ishihara also provided data, insights, and inspiration for this work. Zorana Mijic and Daniel Hutabarat of UCB shared data and insights from their Ph.D. research. We acknowledge the efforts of all GEER team members who participated in postearthquake reconnaissance relied upon in this study. We thank Misko Cubrinovski of the University of Canterbury, who shared data and concepts freely, and those whose research supported this study, including Michael Riemer, Rodolfo Sancio, Jennifer Donahue, Christine Beyzaei, Christopher Markham, Claudio Cappellaro, Sean Rees, Ribu Dhakal, Jorge Macedo, Roberto Luque, Josh Zupan, Mark Stringer, Merrick Taylor, Tom O’Rourke, Brendon Bradley, Sjoerd Van Ballegooy, Mike Jacka, Rick Wentz, Ian McCahon, Nick Traylen, and Iain Haycock. We also thank Uri Eliahu and Pedro Espinosa of ENGEO, Inc., for providing CPT data for Treasure Island, the team of engineers who worked on the Treasure Island project, which included P. Espinosa, P. Stuecheli, S. Papadopoulos, J. Tootle, U. Eliahu, S. Vahdani, B. Heidarzadeh, S. Dickenson, M. Beaty, J. Pestana, N. Sitar, M. Riemer, and C. Markham. R. Luna and J. P. Bardet provided CPT data for Treasure Island and the Marina District, respectively. The New Generation Liquefaction project provided access to data. Norman Abrahamson of UCB assisted in the development of the probabilistic models. Ross Boulanger of UC Davis provided useful feedback after the Seed Lecture.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 8 • August 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 5, 2022
Accepted: Apr 19, 2023
Published online: Jun 6, 2023
Published in print: Aug 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 6, 2023
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