Accounting for Intrinsic Soil Properties and State Variables on Liquefaction Triggering
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper proposes a new approach for incorporating the positive attributes of the small-strain shear wave velocity (), stress-based simplified procedure and the cyclic strain procedure into penetration test, stress-based simplified liquefaction triggering models, with the objective of more fully accounting for the influence of intrinsic soil properties and soil state variables on liquefaction triggering. Current simplified liquefaction procedures are limited in their ability to capture the effects of intrinsic properties (grain size, mineralogy, grain shape, etc.) and the state properties (stress state, void ratio, fabric, etc.). To overcome these limitations, a new mechanistically based factor is proposed that can be incorporated in penetration test, stress-based simplified liquefaction triggering models in place of the currently used factor. However, is conceptually very different from . While most relationships have largely been empirically based and relate to the soil’s cyclic resistance to liquefaction, is more mechanistically based and relates to the loading imposed on the soil. Specifically, is based on equating the shear strain induced in a given soil at given initial stress state and subjected to a given shear stress to the induced shear strain when the soil is confined at a reference initial stress state, all else being equal. Analyses show that is able to capture the liquefaction triggering behavior in both lab and field data in a wide range of soils and stress states. Numerically, and are similar for young, normally consolidated sandy soils when the factor of safety () against liquefaction triggering is close to one, but may differ significantly for other scenarios and/or conditions. This has important implications for probabilistic-based analyses which consider a range of shaking intensities imposed on the soil, not just the case where .
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this paper are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants CMMI-1825189 and CMMI-1937984. This support is gratefully acknowledged. This study has also significantly benefited from enlightening discussions with Professor Misko Cubrinovski, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and review comments by Dr. Peter K. Robertson, Gregg Drilling & Testing Canada Ltd., and Dr. James K. Mitchell, Dr. Alba Yerro-Colom, Ms. Kaleigh Yost, Mr. Tyler Quick, and Mr. Tat Singh Thum from Virginia Tech. However, any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF or others that are acknowledged.
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Received: Mar 23, 2021
Accepted: Mar 10, 2022
Published online: May 11, 2022
Published in print: Jul 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Oct 11, 2022
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