Introduction : Liquefaction :- Reduction of strength and stiffness

of a loose, saturated, cohesion less soil due to

earthquake loading (or any other rapid loading)
Reason :- Pore water pressure increases during
undrained shearing , which causes a reduction in
effective stress, in turn reducing the shear strength
The soil behaves like a viscous liquid; heavy
structures sink and light structures float, because of
loss of bearing capacity

*Engineering Definition of
Let
us assume a soil strata of density with water table at the some depth below
Liquefaction:the ground level

Let the total vertical stress of the soil at point P is denoted by

Pore water pressure at P be denoted as

Effective stress at point P = -

When the vertical stress of soil at a depth

GROUND LEVEL
WATER LEVEL

becomes equal to the pore water pressure

or the effective stress of soil becomes zero, then

x
y

the soil is said to be liquefied.

Point P

When has Liquefaction Occurred in

the past??
Alaska Earthquake, 1964
Niigata Earthquake, Japan,1964
Loma Prieta Earthquake, USA, 1989
Kobe Earthquake, Japan,1995
Chi-Chi Earthquake, Taiwan, 1999
Bhuj Earthquake, India, 2001

Adverse effects of liquefaction

Niigata earthquake

IMAGE SOURCE :- EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Adverse effects of liquefaction

kobe earthquake

COLLAPSE OF HANSHIN
EXPRESSWAY

COLLAPSE OF NISHINOMAYA
BRIDGE
IMAGE SOURCE :- EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Particle Size Range susceptible to

Liquefaction :Soils susceptible to
Liquefaction
Cohesive
soils

Cohesionless/
Granular soils

Clay

Silt

0.00
2
Fine Grain
soils

Sand
0.07
5

2.36

Coarse Grain
soils

Gravel
4.75

Cobble
63-80

200 300
GRAIN SIZE (in mm)

Boulder

*Type of soils susceptible to

Liquefaction as per Indian
Type
of soil Designati
Description about the soil
Standards
:on
properties
Silts and
Clays
(Liquid limit
less than or
equal to 50%)

ML,MI

Inorganic silts and very fine sands, rock flour, silty

or clayey fine sands or clayey silts with slight
plasticity

CL, CI

Inorganic clays of low to medium plasticity,

gravelly clays, sandy clays, silty clays, lean clays

OL, OI

Organic silts and organic silty clays of low

plasticity

Silts and
Clays
(Liquid limit
greater than
50%)

MH

Inorganic silts, micaceous or diatomaceous fine

sandy or silty soils, elastic soils

CH

Inorganic clays of high plasticity, fat clays

OH

Organic clays of medium to high plasticity

Highly
Inorganic Soils

PT

Peat and other highly organic soils

Ref:- IS:1498-1970

Where does the Liquefaction

commonly occur??
The effects of liquefaction are most commonly observed in lowlying areas near bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and
oceans.
Most ports and wharf facilities are built with retaining wall
structures , to allow large ships to moor adjacent to flat cargo
handling areas. When the soil below the wall/beneath the wall
liquefies, the pressure it exerts on the wall can increase greatly
enough to cause the wall to slide/tilt towards the water.
Liquefaction also frequently cause damages to bridges that
cross rivers or water bodies

FACTORS INFLUENCING
LIQUEFACTION SUSCEPTIBILITY

Earthquake Intensity and Duration

Soil Type

Soil Relative Density

Particle Size Distribution

Groundwater Table Location (Saturation)

Hydraulic Conductivity (Permeability)

Overburden Pressure

Structure Load

Historical Liquefaction

SALIENT POINTS FOR TODAYS

FINAL PRESENTATION:

Understanding liquefaction susceptibility the capacity of the soil to

resist liquefaction

Liquefaction potential of a soil using Cyclic Stress Approach

Understanding what is Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) and what is Cyclic

Resistance Ratio (CRR)

How to evaluate Liquefaction potential of a soil at a given depth

Remedies to overcome the adverse effects of liquefaction

A concise discussion on Liquefaction resistant Structures

LIQUEFACTION POTENTIAL OF A SOIL

USING CYCLIC STRESS APPROACH :

Liquefaction resistance of any soil is generally evaluated using two

parameters :
1) The seismic demand on the soil, expressed in terms of Cyclic Stress Ratio
(CSR)
- Earthquake loading is characterized by the amplitude of equivalent

uniform

cyclic stress

2) The capacity of the soil to resist liquefaction, in terms of Cyclic

Resistance Ratio (CRR)
- Liquefaction Resistance is characterized by equivalent uniform cyclic
stress

required to produce liquefaction

LIQUEFACTION POTENTIAL OF A SOIL

USING CYCLIC STRESS APPROACH :-

Depth from the

ground

Cyclic Shear Stress

Zone of
Liquefaction !!

Equivalent
Stress
induced by
Earthquake

Stress reqd. for

Liquefaction

LIQUEFACTION POTENTIAL OF A SOIL

USING CYCLIC STRESS APPROACH :

Several field tests have gained common usage for evaluation of liquefaction
resistance. They are

Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

Cone Penetration Test (CPT)

Shear Wave Velocity Tests (SVW)

Becker Penetration Test (BPT)

SPT and CPT are generally preferred because of extensive databases and past
experience

SIMPLIFIED APPROACH STEPS 1 &

2:Step 1 :

The subsurface data used to assess the liquefaction should include

1) Groundwater table location

2) Either SPT blow count (or tip resistance of a standard CPT cone or
Shear Wave velocity)

3) Mean grain size , Unit weight of the soil & Fines content of the soil
(percent by weights passing the IS sieve no. 75

Step 2:-

Calculate the total vertical stress and effective vertical stress for all the
potentially liquefiable soils

SIMPLIFIED APPROACH STEP 3 :

Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) as per Seed and Indris, is given by

CSR =
where = peak ground acceleration at ground surface by
earthquake
and = total and effective overburden stresses at given depth
= Stress reduction coefficient

Stress reduction coefficient (as per Liao and Whitman, 1986) is given as
where z depth below ground
surface (in m)

SIMPLIFIED APPROACH STEP 4 :

Obtain the Critical Resistance Ratio (CRR) by correcting the standard

CRR curve for 7.5 magnitude earthquake, stress level and initial static
shear

where = Standard Critical Resistance Ratio obtained using values of

SPT,CPT or Shear Wave Velocity
MSF = Magnitude Scaling Factor (given in the fig.1)
= Stress Scaling Factor (given in fig.2)
= Initial Static Scaling Factor (given in fig.3)

MAGNITUDE SCALING FACTORS BY

VARIOUS INVESTIGATORS:

Idriss
Scaling Factor -

Andrus and Stokoe Scaling Factor --

Youd and Noble Scaling Factors

They used a probabilistic analysis to analyse history data from site where
liquefaction was reported and not reported.

for probability < 20% and

for probability < 32% and
for probability < 50% and .75

MAGNITUDE SCALING FACTORS

CHART :-

MAGNITUDE SCALING FACTORS

CHART :-

STRESS SCALING FACTOR FOR

OVERBURDEN PRESSURE :1) To account for the non
linearity between CRR and
effective overburden
pressure
2) Applicable for overburden
pressure more than 100
kPa

- atmospheric pressure
f a constant which is a
function of site conditions,
consolidation ratio, and
relative density

SCALING FACTOR FOR INITIAL STATIC

SHEAR :1) To account for the initial static shear
conditions such as presence of
embankments, heavy structures.

where - static shear stress acting on

a plane
2) The reason for considering this
factor is that increased static shear
stress will increase liquefaction
resistance in dilative soils, and
decrease liquefaction resistance in
contractive soils.
3) In general cases, is taken to be 1.0

SIMPLIFIED APPROACH STEP 5 :OBTAINING STANDARD CRR

We evaluate the standardised SPT blow count , (SPT blow count for a
hammer with 60 % efficiency)
N Measured Standard penetration resistance

If standardized equipment are used as per IS-2131:1981, then = 1

For non standardized equipment, SPT blow count is given as

where

We calculate the normalized SPT blow count (normalized to an effective

overburden pressure of 96kPa using )
1.7

TABLE FOR NON STANDARD VALUES

OF CORRECTION FACTORS :-

SIMPLIFIED APPROACH STEP 5 :OBTAINING STANDARD CRR

The presence of fines content also effects the liquefaction potential. It is

accounted rationally to give the final equation as

where

for FC<= 5%

for FC between 5% - 35%

for FC >= 35%

Graph between the normalized SPT blow count and the CRR shall be
obtained from the graph proposed by Seed, from which factor of safety
is calculated.

FINAL SPT COUNT vs. CRR CHART

MEASURES TO OVERCOME
LIQUEFACTION :

Increasing vertical stress (surcharge)

Using stone columns (for dewatering)

Compaction (densification of soil)

Removal of liquefiable soils

Anchored Piles

Building Liquefaction Resistant Structures