GOVT.

COLLEGE OF
ENGG.AMRAVATI.
FAILURE OF FOUNDATION DUE TO
EARTHQUAKE
SWAPNIL V. THAKARE
Final year civil Engg.
Email !"a#$%&'(re)i*mail.c+m.
P,+ne--&./..0&&
A1STRACT
Soil liquefaction is a common phenomenon during earthquakes. Its effects on
structures are devastating and it occurs in many forms. The mechanism of soil
liquefaction is very complicated due to the nature of soil, which renders it difficult to
fully understand. Because of the consequences it can bring to structures, soil liquefaction
should be an important factor considered in earthquake design, especially for important
structures.
The present state of liquefaction research indicates that
fortunately the above foundation failure can be reduces by adopting some precautions in
construction, which should be within the economic means of people in most countries.
Liquefaction is maor part earthquake which causes foundation failure and lost of life. It
is fairly well accepted that earthquakes will continue to occur and cause disasters if we
are not prepared. !ssessing earthquake risk and improving engineering strategies to
mitigate damages are the only options before us. "eologists, seismologists and engineers
are continuing their efforts to meet the requirements of improved #oning map., reliable

databases of earthquake processes and their effects$ better understanding of liquefaction
characteristics and construction of foundation.
EARTHQUAKE
An earthquake is the vibration, sometimes violent, of the Earth's surface
that follows a release of energy in the Earth's crust, this energy can be generated by a
sudden dislocation of segments of the crust, by a volcanic eruption, or even by manmade
explosions
Earthquakes are caused by active faults, which are, faults along which
the two sides of the fracture move with respect to each other A fault is a fracture within
some particular rocky mass within the earth's crust !ault si"es can vary greatly, as some
faults can be miles long #n short, an earthquake is caused by the sudden movement of
the two sides of a fault with respect to another
$here are three different groups of faults, depending on the way they move
NORMAL FAULTS:-$hese occur in response to pulling or tension% the overlying block
moves down the dip of the fault plane
THRUST (REVERSE) FAULTS :-$hese occur in response to squee"ing or
compression% the overlying block moves up the dip of the fault plane
STRIKE-SLIP (LATERAL) FAULTS :-$hese occur in response to either type of
stress% the blocks move hori"ontally past one another
$he slow and continuous movement of two sides of an active
fault relative to one another can noticed over time& this movement is called fault slip $he
rate of this movement may be as little as a few inches or so per year $he movement of
these two sides of the fault cannot be an entirely smooth, easy type of movement 'e can
infer the existence of conditions or forces deep with the fault which resist this relative
motion of the two sides of the fault $his is because the motion along the fault is

accompanied by the gradual buildup of elastic strain energy within the rock along the
faultas follows (amage )aused by Earthquakes can be classifie as f
!AMA"ES !URIN" EARTHQUAKE ON "ROUN!
"ROUN! SHAKIN"
*ost earthquake damage is caused by ground shaking $he magnitude of an
earthquake, distance to the earthquake focus, type of faulting, depth, and type of material
are important factors in determining the amount of ground shaking that might be
produced at a particular site +arge earthquakes usually produce ground motions with
large amplitudes and long durations #n addition, large earthquakes produce strong
shaking over much larger areas than do smaller earthquakes $he ,-.- magnitude /,
0lympia earthquake produced ground shaking lasting 12 seconds and was felt over an
area of 332,222 square kilometers #n contrast, the ,-4. magnitude 51 Alaska earthquake
produced ground shaking for about 122 seconds and was felt over an area more than five
times larger
SURFA#E FAULTIN"
$he consequences of ma6or fault rupture at the surface can be extreme 7uildings
may be torn apart, gas lines severed, and roads made impassible (amage by faults is
more locali"ed than the widespread damage caused by ground shaking 8evertheless, the
identification of active surface faults is an important part of estimating future earthquake
losses
*ost of the faults on these maps are presently inactive 9eologic evidence
indicating active fault movement within the last ,2,222 years has been reported for only a
few small faults in 'ashington $he best documented active surface faults in the state are
located near +ake )ushman in westem 'ashington he most recent time of movement of
many faults is unknown because, in many places, the faults are not covered by young

geologic materials :uch material, if found to be disturbed, would provide geologic
evidence of the time of movement
SU$SI!EN#E AN! UPLIFT
:udden elevation changes during earthquakes can have severe long;term
economic impact on coastal development :ome parts of <rince 'illiam :ound were
uplifted by several meters during the ,-4. Alaska earthquake& the amount of rise was as
much as two meters on *ontague #sland )onversely, parts of the =enai <eninsula and
=odiak #sland subsided as much as > meters during that earthquake ?<lafker, ,-4-@ :ome
raised harbors on <rince 'illiam :ound could no longer be used by boats
$UIL!IN" #OLLAPSE
<eople can be trapped in collapsed buildings or under rubble that collapses into
the street $his is the type of damage that leads to the worst casulaties $he worst thing to
do in a quake is to rush out into the street during the quake $he danger from being hit by
falling glass and debris is many times greater in front of the building than inside #n the
,-5- +oma <rieta quake the streets of :an !rancisco's financial district were covered by
broken glass and people were buried under the facade of a brick building that fell forward
into the street +ikewise in the ,-4. Alaska quake, a huge concrete facade fell off of a
department store onto pedestrians passing by
$UIL!IN"S KNO#KE! OFF THEIR FOUN!ATION
7uildings that can otherwise withstand the quake can be knocked off their
foundations and severly damaged $his type of damage can be largely prevented by
bolting the frame securely to the foundation, so it will remain in place
LAN!SI!ES

7uildings can be damaged when the ground gives way beneath them $his can be
in the form of a landslide down a hill, or liquifaction of soils that can cause severe
settling of the ground 9round movement can change the whole landscape, as in the 8ew
*adrid Auake that changed the course of the *ississppi Biver A landslide into a lake or
resevoir can cause flooding downstream $his kind of damage is not unique to
earthquakes, but can be triggered by a quake
LIQUEFA#TION
:oil liquefaction and related ground failures are commonly associated with large
earthquakes #n common usage, liquefaction refers to the loss of strength in saturated,
cohesion fewer soils due to the build;up of pore water pressures during dynamic loading
A more precise definition of soil liquefaction is given by :laden
C+iquefaction is a phenomenon wherein a mass of soil loses a large percentage of
its shear resistance, when sub6ected to monotonic, cyclic, or shock loading, and
flows in a manner resembling a liquid until the shear stresses acting on the mass
are as low as the reduced shear resistanceC
#n a more general manner, soil liquefaction has been defined as the transformation
Cfrom a solid state to a liquefied state as a consequence of increased pore pressure and
reduced effective stressC ?C(efinition of termsC ,-/5@ :ome ground failures attributed
to soil liquefaction are more correctly described to cyclic mobility which results in
limited soil deformations without liquid;like flow $he proper, concise definition for soil
liquefaction has been the sub6ect of a continuing debate within the geotechnical
profession 'hile investigators have argued that liquefaction and cyclic mobility should
be carefully distinguished ?)astro and <oulos ,-//@, liquefaction is commonly used to
describe all failure mechanisms resulting from the build;up of pore pressures during
undrained cyclic shear of saturated soils
'hen dense sands are monotonically sheared, the soil skeleton may first
compress and then dilate as the sand particles move up and over one another !or dense,
saturated sands sheared without pore water drainage, the tendency for dilation or volume
increase results in a decrease in pore water pressure and an increase in the effective stress
and shear strength 'hen a dense sand sample is sub6ected to cycles of small shear strains

under undrained conditions, excess pore pressure may be generated in each load cycle
leading to softening and the accumulation of deformations Dowever, at larger shear
strains, dilation relieves the excess pore pressure resulting in an increased shear
resistance $he behavior of loose and dense sands in undrained shear is discussed further

?,@ !low liquefaction, used for the undrained flow of a saturated, contractive soil
when the static shear stress exceeds the residual strength of the soil !ailure may
be triggered by cyclic or monotonic shear loading
?>@ )yclic liquefaction, which occurs when cyclic shear stresses exceed the initial,
static shear stress to produce a stress reversal A condition of "ero effective stress
may be achieved during which large deformations may occur
E )yclic mobility, in which cyclic loads do not yield a shear stress reversal and a
condition of "ero effective stress does not develop (eformations accumulate in
each cycle of shear stress
$his classification system for liquefaction recogni"es that various mechanisms
may be involved in a given ground failure Fet, this definition preserves the contemporary
usage of the term liquefaction to broadly describe the failure of saturated, cohesion less
soils during earthquakes
"ROUN! FAILURE RESULTIN" FROM SOIL LIQUEFA#TION%
0nce the likelihood of soil liquefaction has been identified, an engineering
evaluation must focus on the mode and magnitude of ground failures that might result
$he 8ational Besearch )ouncil ?+iquefactionG ,-53@ lists eight types of failure
commonly associated with soil liquefaction in earthquakes%
:and boils, which usually result in subsidence and relatively minor damage
!low failures of slopes involving very large down;slope movements of a soil
mass
+ateral spreads resulting from the lateral displacements of gently sloping ground

9round oscillation where liquefaction of a soil deposit beneath a level site leads
to back and forth movements of intact blocks of surface soil
+oss of bearing capacity causing foundation failures
7uoyant rise of buried structures such as tanks
9round settlement, often associated with some other failure mechanism
!ailure of retaining walls due to increased lateral loads from liquefied backfill
soil or loss of support from liquefied foundation soils
ME#HANISM OF SOIL LIQUEFA#TION
+iquefaction of soil is a process by which sediments below the water table
temporarily lose strength and behave more as a viscous liquid than as a solid liquefaction
occurs in saturated soils, especially clay;free sand and silts
$he water in the soil exerts pressure upon the soil particles #f this pressure is
low enough, the soil stays stable 7ut once the water pressure exceeds a certain level, it
forces the soil particles to move relative to each other, thus causing the strength of the
soil to decrease and failure of the soil follows (uring earthquakes, when the shear wave
passes through saturated soil layers, it causes the granular soil structure to deform and the
weak part of the soil begins to collapse $he collapsed soil fills the lower layer and forces
the pore water pressure in this layer to increase #f the water pressure cannot be ready
released, it will continue to build up until it can sustain the total weight of the soil layer
above, thus the upper layer soil are ready to move and behave as a viscous liquid #t then
is said that soil liquefaction has occurred $he shear deformation of soil caused by
dynamic earthquake load Although soil liquefaction is usually followed by significant
structural failures, it does not happen everywhere $here are some places that are more
susceptible to soil liquefaction 9enerally, the more loose the soil and the higher the
underground water level, the more likely liquefaction is to occur at this site during
earthquakes $he degree of ground deformation caused by soil liquefaction is always
depended on the age, density, and depth of the soil
SOIL LIQUEFA#TION IN SOME MA&OR EARTHQUAKES

All strong earthquakes are accompanied by the phenomena of soil liquefaction
of some kind +iquefaction can cause the failure of structures of any form in many
modes :ome typical cases of structure failure caused by soil liquefaction in some ma6or
earthquakes are summari"ed below
'% T(e Nii)a*a Ea+*(,-a.e
/% T(e Alas.a Ea+*(,-a.e
0% T(e L12a P+ie*a Ea+*(,-a.e
3% T(e K1be Ea+*(,-a.e
4% T(e I52i* Ea+*(,-a.e
6 T(e Tai7an Ea+*(,-a.e
#ASE STU!8 PILE INSTA$ILIT8 !URIN" EARTHQUAKE LIQUEFA#TION
Pile fail-+e -+in) ea+*(,-a.e li,-efac*i1n
:tructural failure of piles passing through liquefiable layers has been
observed in many recent strong earthquakes, for example !igures ,?a@, ?b@, ?c@ and ?d@
$his implies that the bending moments or shear forces that are experienced by the piles
exceed that predicted by those design method ?or code of practice@ All current design
codes apparently provide a high margin of safety ?partial safety factors on load,
material stress@, which would mean that the actual moment or shear force experienced by
the pile is many times the predicted moment or shear #t may be concluded that design
methods are not consistent with the physical mechanism that governs the failure $he
study of the case histories seems to show a dependence of pile performance on buckling
parameters As short columns fail in crushing and long columns in buckling ,the analysis
suggests that pile failure in liquefied soils is similar in some ways to the failure of long
columns in air $he lateral support offered to the pile by the soil prior to the earthquake is
removed during liquefaction

#ASE STU!8 /
Inc1nsis*enc9 in Obse+:a*i1ns 1f Pile Fail-+e 7i*( *(e #-++en* Une+s*anin)
$his section of the paper highlights some of the inconsistencies of observations of
pile failure with respect to the current understanding $hey are summari"ed below
After the detailed investigation of the failure of piles during ,--3 =obe
earthquake, $okimatsu and Asaka ?,--5@ reports that% #n the liquefied level ground, most
<) piles ?<restressed )oncrete pile used before ,-52Hs@ and <D) piles ?<restressed Digh
:trength )oncrete piles used after ,-52Hs@ bearing on firm strata below liquefied layers
suffered severe damage accompanied by settlement andIor tilting of their superstructure,
G #f lateral spreading is the main cause of failure, why would most of high strength
<D) piles collapse in level grounds ie in the absence of lateral spreading
#t is a common observation in seismic bridge failure that piers collapse while
abutments remain stable, for example !igures , ?aJb@ !igure , ?a@ shows the collapse of
one the piers of the *illion (ollar 7ridge leading to bridge failure :imilar failures were
also observed of the :howa 7ridge during the ,-4. 8iigata earthquake& see !igure ,?b@

Fi)-+e : Obse+:e fail-+e
1f a ;ile f1-na*i1n in
/<<' $(-= ea+*(,-a.e>
(/<<')%

Figure 1: Failure of bridges in earthquakes; (a): Million Dollar Bridge after the
1964 Alaska earthquake; (b): ho!a Bridge after the 1964 "iigata earthquake#
#ON#LUSION
:oil liquefaction should be an important factor considered in earthquake design,
especially for important structures
!oundation failure can be reduces by adopting some precautions in construction
Earthquake liquefaction "one the 7earing capacity can be improve by using
Beinforces soil
REFEREN#ES
1 7hattacharya, :, *adabhushi, :<9 and 7olton, *( ?>22>@% An
alternativemechanism of pile failure in liquefiable deposits during earthquakes,
$echnical reportof Kniversity of )ambridge, )KE(I(;:0#+:I$B1>. ?0ct
>22>@http%IIwwwcivengcamacukIgeotechLnewIpublicationsI$BI$B1>.pdf
> :oil +iquefaction 'eb site, Kniversity of 'ashington,
$ *adabhushi, :<9, <atel, ( and Daigh, := ?>22,@ (raft version of EE!#$
reporton the >4thMan >22, 7hu6 earthquake in #ndia #nstitution of :tructural
Engineers, K= erthquake Beport, 0ct ,---