Lebanese University

ULFGII

Geotechnical earthquake
engineering

Dalia Abdel Massih, Ph.D.

CHAPTER 7
Liquefaction
 CONTENT
Soil Liquefaction Definition
Causes of Liquefaction
Liquefaction evaluation
Liquefaction susceptibility
Liquefaction potential
Cyclic stress approach
Cyclic strain approach
 Soil Liquefaction

Liquefaction occurs when vibrations or water

pressure within a mass of soil cause the soil
particles to lose contact with one another. As
a result, the soil behaves like a liquid, has an
inability to support weight and can flow down
very gentle slopes.
Soil Liquefaction
Loma Prieta, USA, 1989

1964 Niigata earthquake

Lower San Fernando dam suffered

an underwater slide during the San
Fernando earthquake, 1971.
southern California
 Conditions that Cause Liquefaction
Liquefaction most often occurs when three
conditions are met:
1) loose, granular sediment or fill
2) saturation by ground water
3) strong shaking quick loading

= 0-u = 0
Reduction of soil strength
Reduction bearing capacity
Soil particles lose contact with
each other
Evaluation of Liquefaction
Evaluation of liquefaction hazards involves three primary steps.

The susceptibility of the soil to liquefaction must be evaluated. If

the soil is determined to be not susceptible to liquefaction, liquefaction
hazards do not exist and the liquefaction hazard evaluation is complete.
If the soil is susceptible to liquefaction, the evaluation moves to the
second step.
Evaluation of the potential for initiation of liquefaction. This step
involves comparison of the level of loading produced by the earthquake
with the liquefaction resistance of the soil. If the resistance is greater
than the loading, liquefaction will not be initiated and the liquefaction
hazard evaluation can be considered complete. If the level of loading is
greater than the liquefaction resistance, however, liquefaction will be
initiated. If liquefaction is initiated, the evaluation moves to the third
stage
Evaluation of the effects of liquefaction. If the effects are
sufficiently severe, the engineer and owner may consider improvement of
the site, or alternative sites for the proposed development.
7
Evaluation of Liquefaction
Susceptibility

8
Factors that govern liquefaction in field
Earthquake intensity and duration (amax >=0.10g; ML>5
Ground water table
Soil type (Granular/fine)
Relative density of soil (Loose or dense)
Grain size distribution and particle shape
Drainage conditions (highly permeable sand/gravel
reduce liquefaction)
Confining pressures
Ageing of the deposit
Loads from superstructure (The construction of a heavy
building on top of a sand deposit can decrease the liquefaction
resistance of the soil)
 Liquefaction Susceptibility Criteria -
Compositional Criterion
Well-graded soils are generally less susceptible to
liquefaction than poorly graded soils.
Most liquefaction failures in the field have involved
uniformly graded soils.
Rounded soil particle shapes are generally more
susceptible to liquefaction than angular-grained soils.

Grain size ranges for

most liquefiable soils
(After Ishihara 1985)

10
Liquefaction Susceptibility Criteria -
Compositional Criterion

Fraction finer than 0.005 mm <15%

Liquid Limit, LL <35%
Liquid limit - water content above
which material acts as a liquid
Natural water content > 90%
LL Liquidity Index <0.75
Evaluation of Liquefaction
Potential

12
Evaluation of Liquefaction Potential

Cyclic Stress Approach: In the cyclic stress approach,

both the loading imposed on the soil by the earthquake
and the resistance of the soil to liquefaction are
characterized in terms of cyclic shear stresses. By
characterizing both loading and resistance in common
terms, they can be directly compared to determine the
potential for liquefaction.

Cyclic Strain Approach: In the cyclic stress approach,

both the loading imposed on the soil by the earthquake
and the resistance of the soil to liquefaction are
characterized in terms of cyclic shear strains.

13
Cyclic Stress Approach
Estimation of two variables is required for evaluation of
liquefaction potential of soils by cyclic stress
approach.

1. The seismic demand on a soil layer, expressed in

terms of Cyclic Stress Ratio, CSR (CSR induced by
the earthquake)

2. The capacity of the soil to resist liquefaction,

expressed in terms of Cyclic Resistance Ratio, CRR
(CSR required to cause liquefaction)

14
 Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR)
CSR is defined as the ratio of the equivalent cyclic shear stress, cyc,
to the initial vertical effective stress, vo' .
cyc
CSR '
vo
The equivalent cyclic shear stress is generally assumed to be equal to
65% of the peak cyclic shear stress, a value arrived at by comparing
rates of porewater pressure generation caused by transient
earthquake shear stress histories with rates caused by uniform
harmonic shear stress histories. The factor was intended to allow
comparison of a transient shear stress history from an earthquake of
magnitude, M, with that of N cycles of harmonic motion of amplitude
0.65max , where N is an equivalent number of cycles of harmonic
motion.

15
Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR)

16
Stress Reduction Factor rd

Source: Kramer (1996)

Variation of rd with depth below level or gently sloping ground

surfaces (Seed and Idriss, 1971)
Stress Reduction Factor rd
a) b)
Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) - SPT
From SPT N value:

Source: Kramer
(1996)

Relationship between cyclic stress ratio and (N1)60 for

Mw = 7.5 earthquakes 19
Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) - SPT
Correction factors for obtaining CSR for
earthquake magnitudes other than 7.5 have
been proposed by various researchers
Magnitude CSRM/CSRM=7.5

5.25 1.50
6 1.32
6.75 1.13
7.5 1.00
8.5 0.89

20
Cyclic Resistance Ratio (CRR) - CPT
From CPT value:

Relationship between cyclic stress ratio and normalized cone

resistance (Mitchell and Tseng, 1990)
21
Cyclic Resistance Ratio (CRR)
From SPT N value:

Minimum value of
(N1)60 required to
resist to liquefaction

22
Zone of Liquefaction
Cyclic Stress Approach:

23
Factor of safety against liquefaction

Factor of Safety against liquefaction FSL = CRR / CSR

CRR: Cyclic Resistance Ratio / Cyclic Shear stress

required to cause Liquefaction

CSR: Cyclic Stress Ration/ Cyclic shear stress induced by

the earthquake

For the soil to be safe against liquefaction, FSL should be

more than 1.

24
 Evaluation of soil Liquefaction (Youd et al. 2001)

The simplified procedure to determine the liquefaction potential

involves the following steps:
1. Determine if the soil has ability to liquefy.
2. The soil must be below groundwater table.
3. Determine the cyclic stress ratio (CSR)
Determination of cyclic stress ratio requires information about peak
horizontal ground acceleration.
4. By using the standard penetration test, the cyclic resistance ratio
(CRR) of the soil is determined.
5. Finally, the factor of safety against liquefaction is determined as
FS = CRR/CSR.

FS<1: Critically liquefiable soil

1<FS<1.3: Moderate liquefiable soil
FS>1.3: Not liquefiable soil
Factor of safety against liquefaction