Gravel Liquefaction Assessment Using the Dynamic Cone Penetration Test Based on Field Performance from the 1976 Friuli Earthquake
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 6
Abstract
The dynamic cone penetration test (DPT) developed in China has been correlated with liquefaction resistance of gravelly soils based on field performance data from the Wenchuan earthquake. With a diameter of 74 mm, DPT would be less sensitive to gravel size particles than the SPT or CPT and could be a viable assessment tool depending on gravel size and percentage. In this study, liquefaction resistance is evaluated using four DPT soundings with two hammer energies and shear wave velocity () measurements in Avasinis, Italy, where gravelly sand liquefied in the 1976 Friuli, Italy, earthquake. The DPT correctly predicted liquefaction at three sites where liquefaction was observed; however, it also predicted liquefaction in a highly stratified silt and silty gravel profile where ejecta was not observed. This failure appears to be a result of the “system response” of the profile, which impeded ejecta as identified at similar stratified sites in New Zealand. -based triggering curves often predicted no liquefaction at sites where liquefaction was observed, suggesting that the boundary curves may need to shift to the right for gravelly soils. Standard SPT energy corrections were found to be reasonable for the DPT.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this study was provided by grant G16AP00108 from the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program and grant CMMI-1663288 from the National Science Foundation. This funding is gratefully acknowledged; however, the opinions, conclusions, and recommendations in this paper do not necessarily represent those of the sponsors. We are grateful to Gerhart-Cole, Inc. (Midvale, Utah), for donating the PDA equipment used in this study. Funding for the MASW and H/V testing was provided by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. A special thanks to Livio Sirovich for kindly sharing his valuable dataset and his deep knowledge on the Friuli earthquake. Thanks also to the Avasinis Municipality and geologist Davide Serravalli for sharing the seismic microzonation studies; to geologist Maria Rosaria Manuel for the proper performance of the DPT tests; and to Prof. Marco Stefani for an overview on the geological context.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 6 • June 2020
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Received: Jun 22, 2018
Accepted: Dec 6, 2019
Published online: Mar 19, 2020
Published in print: Jun 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Aug 19, 2020
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