Assessments of Liquefaction Triggering Using In Situ and Laboratory Tests in Pohang, South Korea
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 12
Abstract
The 2017 Pohang earthquake [the second largest local magnitude () of 5.4 since 1978] caused significant damage: numerous sand boils and a few building settlements were observed in rice paddies and residential areas, respectively, representing unprecedented case histories of earthquake-triggered liquefaction and cyclic softening. This study evaluated liquefaction triggering and cyclic softening potentials using three in situ tests [standard penetration test (SPT), cone penetration test (CPT), and downhole (DH) test for shear wave velocity ()] and laboratory tests (grain size and soil indices) for the observed sand boils and building settlements. We selected six sites, four of which had sand boils (Sites 1, 2, 3, and 4), and two of which had experienced building settlements that may have resulted from cyclic softening (Sites 5 and 6). The SPT, CPT, and adequately assessed liquefaction triggering [i.e., factor of safety or ] at Sites 1 through 4 (except for at Sites 1 and 2), where sand boils were prevalent. The cyclic softening potential was fairly evaluated from the SPT and CPT ( or at several depths) at Sites 5 and 6, consistent with the building settlement, whereas led to at all depths. The site-specific cyclic stress ratio through the maximum shear stress ratio computed from site response analysis appropriately evaluated the liquefaction triggering and cyclic softening at the considered sites. The results of the soil index test are consistent with the liquefaction and cyclic softening susceptibility criteria for fine-grained soils. We publicly provide the field and laboratory measurements in this study to enrich case history data on liquefaction and cyclic softening induced by intermediate-size earthquakes (e.g., a moment magnitude, ), which might significantly contribute to geotechnical earthquake engineering and engineering geoscience communities.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies. Data for the three in situ tests are provided in the Supplemental Materials.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a Grant (20SCIP-C151438-02) from the Construction Technology Research Program funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport of the Korean government. We thank the late Professor Dong-Soo Kim for his contribution to the liquefaction project after the Pohang earthquake.
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Received: Jul 20, 2023
Accepted: Jul 2, 2024
Published online: Oct 14, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Mar 14, 2025
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