ASEMINARREPORT

LIQUEFACTIONOFSOIL
SubmitedinPartialFulfilmentoftheRequirement

FortheDegreeof

BACHELOROFTECHNOLOGY
CIVILENGINEERING
By

SHIVSHANKARMAURYA(63/16)
UnderSupervision

Of

Mr.VIJAYLOKESHSINGH
CivilEngineeringDepartment

HarcourtButlerTechnicalUniversity,Kanpur(U.P.),INDIA

CivilEngineeringDepartment
SchoolOfEngineering
HARCOURTBUTLERTECHNICALUNIVERSITYKANPUR

Kanpur208002,INDIA
May2018
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thesatisfactionthataccompaniesthesuccessfulcompletionofthisreportwouldbe
incompletewithoutthementionofpeoplewhohavemadeitpossible,withoutwhose
guidanceandencouragement,wouldhavemadeoureffortsgoinvain.Iconsidermyself
privilegedtoexpressmygratitudeandrespecttowardsalthosewhoguidedmethroughthe
completionofthisreport.

Iam extremelygratefultomyseminarguideofCivilEngineeringDepartmentMR.VIJAY
LOKESHSINGHforprovidingencouragement,constantsupportandguidancewhichwas
essentialincompletingthisreport.

IamhighlythankfultoalmyrespectedfacultymembersofCivilEngineeringDepartment,
HBTUKanpurfortheirmeaningfulcontributiontomyreport.Ialsothankmybatch-mates
whohelpedmetotheircapacity.

SHIVSHANKARMAURYA

63/16

3rdCE
 CERTIFICATE
Thisistocertifythatthereportontopic“LIQUEFACTIONOFSOIL’whichisbeingpresented
hereinthepartialfulfilmentofrequirementsfortheawardofthedegreeofBachelorof
TechnologyinCivilEngineeringDepartmentofHarcourtButlerTechnicalUniversity,Kanpur
duringyear2018-19.Itiscertifiedthatalthecorrectionsindicatedforinternalassessment
havebeenincorporatedinthereport.Itisanauthenticrecordofmyownworkcarriedout
undertheguidanceofMr.VIJAYLOKESHSINGH,CivilEngineeringDepartment,H.B.T.U., Kanpur.

Thematerembodiedinthisreporthasnotbeensubmitedbymeforawardofanyother
degreeordiploma.

SHIVSHANKARMAURYA(63/16)

Thisistocertifythattheabovestatementmadebycandidatesarecorectandtothebestof
ourknowledge.

Signatureofseminarin-charge

.
.

Date………………….

MR.VIJAYLOKESHSINGH

CIVILEnggDepartment
2.1INTRODUCTION
Liquefactionisaphenomenoninwhichsaturatedcohesionlesssoilmassloosesits
strengthandstiffnessinresponsetoarapidlyappliedloading(earthquakeloading)
andbehaveslikeaviscousliquid.Liquefactionhasbeenresponsiblefortremendous
amountsofdamagesinhistoricalearthquakesaroundtheworld.Inthischapter
mechanismofliquefaction,liquefactionrelatedphenomenon,liquefactionhazardsin
pastearthquake,factorsaffecting liquefaction and evaluation ofliquefaction
potentialarediscussed

2.2MECHANISMOFLIQUEFACTION
The conceptofliquefaction wasfirstintroduced byCasagrande.During an
earthquake,cyclicshearstressesareappliedtoloosesand.Thesecyclicshear
stressesareinducedduetopropagationofshearwavesduringearthquake.
Consequently,loosesandcontracts,thisresultsinincreaseinporewaterpressure.
Sinceseismicshakingtakesplacetooquickly,consequently,cohesionlesssoilis
subjectedtoundrainedloading.Thisistotalstressanalysiscondition.Theincrease
inporewaterpressureduringearthquakethuscausesupwardflowofwaterto
groundsurface.Atthegroundsurfaceitemergesasmudspoutsorsandboils.
Consequently,developmentofhighporewaterpressureduetogroundshaking
causedbyearthquakeandupwardflowofwaterturnssandintoliquefiablecondition.
Thismechanism iscaledliquefaction.Atthestateofliquefaction,theeffective
stressiszero.Furthermore,individualsoilparticlesarereleasedfromconfinement.It
appearsthatsoilparticlesarefloatinginwater.Afterthesandhasliquefied,the
excessporewaterwilstarttodissipate.Therearetwoimportantfactorsgoverning
thedurationforwhichsoilwilremaininliquefiedstate.

1.Durationofseismicshakingduringearthquake
2.Drainageconditionsofliquefiedsoil.

Ifsaturatedsandissubjectedtoearthquakeloading.Ittendstocompactand
decreaseinvolume,ifdrainageisrestrainedthetendencytodecreaseinvolume
resultsinanincreaseinporepressure.Duetothisstrengthdecreases.(After
Saran1999)
Thestrengthofsaturatedsandisgivenby:

(2.1)

Afterearthquakeloadingstrengthreducedto

(2.2)
Insands, dyn isalmostsameas .ForcompleteloseofstrengthSdyniszero.

(2.3)

(2.4)
Thisratioisknownasexcessporepressureratio,soforcompletelossofstrengthof
completeliquefactionthisratiobecomesunity.

2.3LIQUEFACTION-RELATEDPHENOMENA
Thegenerationofexcessporepressureunderundrainedloadingconditionisa
halmarkofalliquefactionphenomena.Liquefactionphenomenacanbedividedinto
twomaingroups(AfterKramer1996):

1.Flowliquefaction

2.Cyclicmobility

2.3.1.FlowLiquefaction
Itproducesthemosteffectsofaltheliquefaction-related phenomena.Itcanoccur
whentheshearstressrequiredforstaticequilibriumofasoilmassisgreaterthan
theshearstrengthofthesoilinliquefiedstate.Onceflowliquefactiontriggeredthe
largedeformationsareactualydrivenbystaticshearstresses.Flowliquefaction
failuresarecharacterizedbythesuddennatureoftheirorigin,thespeedwithwhich
theydevelop,andthelargedistanceoverwhichtheliquefiedmaterialsoftenmove.
TheflowslidefailureshavebeenobservedinSheffielddamandlowerSanFernando
dam.

2.2.2CyclicMobility
Cyclicmobilityoccurswhentheshearstressrequiredforstaticequilibriumofasoil
massislessthantheshearstrengthofthesoilinliquefiedstate.Itcanproduce
unacceptably permanent deformations during earthquake shaking. The
deformationsinducedbycyclicmobilityaredrivenbybothcyclicandstaticstresses.

2.4LIQUEFACTIONHAZARDSINPASTEARTHQUAKES
Frompastearthquakes,ithasbeenshownthatliquefactionhasbeenoccuredsince
manyyears.Liquefactionhasbeensowidespreadinanumberofrecentearthquakes
thatitisoftenassociatedwiththem.Someofthoseearthquakesarelistedbelowin
Figure2.1.
 Fig2.1(a)alaskaUSA

Figure2.1(b):Nigata,Japan,1964
Figure2.1(c):LomaPrieta,USA,1989
Fig.dkorbjapan1995.
Figure2.1(e):Alaska1964earthquake,abuildingseverelydamagedbyslopefailure
causedbyliquefaction
Figure2.1(f):LiquefactionintherecentsubductionzoneearthquakeinJapan(2011)
causedentirebuildingstosinkseveralfeetlowerthantheyhadbeenpreviously.

TheBhuj2001earthquakeinKutchareacausedextensivedamagestopropertyand
infrastructures.Spreadingofgroundcauseddamagestohighways,damsand
embankmentstructures.

2.5FACTORSAFFECTINGLIQUEFACTION
Folowingfactorsaffecttheliquefaction(Prakash1981,Kramer1996)
(i)Typeofsoil
(i)Shapeofsoilparticles
(i)Grainsizedistribution
(iv)PermeabilityofSoil
(v)DepthofGroundWaterTable
(vi)HistoricalEnvironment
(vi)AgeofSoil
(vi)ConfiningPressure
(ix)RelativeDensity
(x)NaturalSoilDepositsinWaterBodies
(xi)Locationofdrainageanddimensionsofdeposit
(xi)Locationofdrainageanddimensionsofdeposit
(xi)Trappedair
(xiv)PresenceofSeismicWaves.
Thesearedescribedindetailinfolowingsections.

2.5.1TypeofSoil
Finesandsarebelievedtobemoresusceptibletoliquefactionthancoarsesands,
becauseoftheirlow permeability.Dissipationofdevelopedexcessporewater
pressuredependsuponthepermeabilityofthesoil.Eventhoughconventionaly
sandsareonlyexpectedliquefy,therearesomeinstanceswhereingravelysoils
havealsoshownevidencesofliquefaction(Yoshimi,1973).Majorityofclaysfound
tobeunsusceptibletoliquefaction.However,sensitiveclayscanexhibitstrain
softeningbehaviorwhichmakesitvulnerabletoliquefaction.

2.5.2ShapeofSoilParticles
Roundedparticlesareknowntobeliquefyingmoreeasilythanangularshaped
particles.Astheeaseofdensificationisdirectlyproportionaltothesusceptibilityof
soiltoliquefaction,soilswithroundedparticlesaremorepronetoliquefactionthan
withangularshapedparticles.

2.5.3GrainSizeDistribution

Grainsizedistributionofsoilaffectstheprocessofdensificationduringearthquake
shaking.Consequently,itaffectstheliquefactionsusceptibility.Uniformlygraded
soilsaremoresusceptibletoliquefactionthanwelgradedsands.

2.5.4PermeabilityofSoil

Permeabilityofsoilmassleadstodissipationofporewaterpressureveryquickly.
Hence,ifthisdissipationofporewaterpressureoccursveryquicklythenthesoil
doesnotliquefy.Basedontheobservations,itcanbeconcludedthatpresenceof
highlypermeablesoillayersmayreduceliquefactionpotentialofadjacentsoillayers.
Inotherwords,theliquefactionsusceptibilityofaloosesandlayerwilbereducedif
itissuroundedbyahighlypermeablegravellayer.

2.5.5DepthofGroundWaterTable

Anothercriterionwhichmakessoilsusceptibletoliquefactionisitsdegreeof
saturation.Thisclearlyindicatestheimportanceofdepthofwatertableanditmust
benearthesurfaceoftheground.Normalythesoillocatedabovethewatertableis
unsaturatedandhencethechancesofliquefactionareless(Day,2002).

2.5.6HistoricalEnvironment

Soildepositswhichhavebeenalreadysubjectedtodynamicshakingwilhavea
beterresistanceagainstliquefactionthannewlyformedsoilsdeposit.However,the
evidenceofliquefactionduringthepastearthquakesprovidesthedetailsofthe
regionsofsusceptiblesoils.

2.5.7AgeofSoil
Theageofthesoilplaysapivotalroleindeterminingtheliquefactionsusceptibility.
Theliquefactionresistanceofasoilincreases,withtheageofthesoil.Oldsoil
depositsarelesssusceptiblecomparetonewsoildeposits,becausetheoldsoil
depositshavemorestableparticlearangementduetothecompressionofthesoil
particleswithtime.Moreovertheparticlebondinginthecaseofolddepositswilbe
moreduetoformationofsomekindofcementationorwelding.

2.5.8ConfiningPressure

Soilsatdepthsofmorethan15metersgeneralydonotliquefyduetothehigh
effectiveconfiningpressureonit.Thehighertheeffectiveconfiningpressure,lesser
istheprobabilityofthesoiltoliquefy.Ifthegroundwatertabledepthismorethan
15mfromthegroundsurface,thesoillyingbelowthewatertablegeneralydoesnot
liquefy.Incaseofaslopingdam,thesoildeposithastobeanalyzedforits
liquefactionsusceptibilityevenifthedepthofdepositismorethan15m.

2.5.9RelativeDensity

Thesoillayerwhichhasalowrelativedensityismoresusceptibletoliquefaction
thandensesoil.Loosesoilsdensifyeasilyduringearthquakeandthiswilcauseto
increaseinporewaterpressurewhichleadstotheliquefactionofsoil.Whereas
densesandswildilateduringearthquakeandthiswilreducetheporewater
pressureandhencetheliquefactionsusceptibilitywilbeless.

2.5.10NaturalSoilDepositsinWaterBodies

Soilsinlakes,riversoroceansarehighlypronetoliquefactionduetotheirlooseand
segregatedstructure.Hencesoilswhicharepronetoliquefactionareformedin
marinedepositionalenvironment.Tailingdamsarealsosusceptibletoliquefaction.

2.5.11LocationofDrainageandDimensionsofDeposit

Liquefaction ofgravelsisexampleofeffectofdrainageconditionson the

liquefactionofsoils.Coarsegrainedsoilsandgravelsarehighlypermeable.However,
ifthedrainagepathismoreorthelayerissandwichedbetweenimpermeable(low
permeable)claylayers,earthquakeloadingmayleadstoundrainedconditionsand
liquefactionmaybeoccurred.

2.5.12TrappedAir

Apartoftrappedairisdissipatedduetocompressionofair.hencethetrappedair
reducesthepossibilityofliquefaction.

2.5.13PresenceofSeismicWaves

Itisknownthatthemostcommoncauseforliquefactionisthepresenceof
vibration/seismicenergyreleasedduringanearthquake.Basedonobservations,it
hasbeenconcludedthatthepotentialforliquefactionincreaseswiththeincreasein
seismicenergy.Theenergythusproduced,isthecauseforthecyclicshearstress
thatactsonthesoilmassandthiscausestheaccelerationofthesoilmassinthe
horizontaldirection.Ithasbeenstatedthattheshakingthresholdrequiredfor
liquefactionisalocalshakingmagnitudeofabout5andapeakaccelerationof0.1g.

2.6EVALUATIONOFLIQUEFACTIONPOTENTIAL

Liquefactionsusceptibilitycanbejudgedbyseveralcriteriasuchashistorical,
geological,compositionalandstatecriteria.ThegeologicSetingandgeologic
criteriaprovideveryusefulinformationforpreliminaryassessmentofliquefaction
susceptibility.Geologic processes,thatsortsoils into uniform grain size
distributionsanddepositthem inloosestates,producesoildepositswithhigh
liquefactionsusceptibility(Pyke,2003).Humanmadesoildeposits,particularlyloose
filssuchashydraulicalyfilsinwhichsoilparticlesarelooselydepositedbysetling
throughwater,areverylikelytobepronetoliquefaction.Experiencesindicatethat
liquefactionwithengineeringconsequencesislargelyhappensinhydraulicfilsand
veryrecentaluvialandfluvialdeposits(Pyke,2003).Initiationofliquefactionsaidto
bethephenomenaofseismicgenerationoflargepore-waterpressuresand
consequentsofteningofgranularsoil.Asaresult,theassessmentofliquefaction
resistanceisonlyilustratesthatliquefactioninitiatesornot.
A numberofapproachestoevaluationofthepotentialofliquefactionhave
developedovertheyears.Themostcommonapproachiscyclicstressapproach
whichisdiscussedinfolowingparagraph.
Therearethreemainstepsincyclicstressapproach:
1.Characterizationofearthquakeloading
 2.Characterizationofliquefactionresistance
3.FactorofSafetyagainstliquefaction.

2.6.1CharacterizationofEarthquakeLoading

TodetermineCSRearthquakeequation,itisassumedthatgroundsurfaceislevel.
Furthermore,soilcolumnisassumedtohaveunitwidth.Lengthofsoilcolumnis assumed to
movehorizontalyasa rigid bodydueto maximum horizontal
accelerationexertedbyearthquakeatgroundsurface.

Figure2.2:ConditionsassumedforthederivationofCSRearthquakeequation
(Courtesy:Day,2002).

CSRiscalculatedbyequation2.5(SeedandIdriss(1971)).

(2.5)

Where,amaxisthepeakgroundacceleration,
g=accelerationduetogravity(insameunitsasamax),
σvoistheinitialverticaltotalstress,
'
σvo istheinitialverticaleffectivestress,
rd=depthreductionfactor,andcanbeevaluatedbyequation(2.6):

rd=1.0–0.00765z, z≤9.15m (2.6.a)

rd=1.174–0.0267z, 9.15m<z≤23m (2.6.b)

2.6.2CharacterizationofLiquefactionResistance

LiquefactionresistancecanbeevaluatedeitherLaboratorytestsorFieldtests.Butif
laboratoryfacilitiesarenotavailablethenfieldtestssuchasstandardpenetration
(SPT),conepenetration(CPT),orshearwavevelocity(Vs)testsareconducted.
SinceSPTismorepopularsointhissectionevaluationofCRRfrom Standard
PenetrationTestisdiscussed.
TheSPThasbeenmostcommonlyusedandwilbeused.
ThereareseveraladvantagesofusingSPTtoevaluateliquefactionpotential.Boring
isexcavatedtoperform thestandardpenetrationtest.Groundwatertablelocation
canbeobservedandmeasuredintheborehole.Incleansand,whiledoingstandard
penetrationtesting,samplerwilnotbeabletoretainsoilsample.Forothersoils,soil
canberetainedinthesampler.Furthermore,itcanbevisualyclassifiedtoestimate
percentageoffines.Thenitcanbebroughtinlaboratoryforfurtherclassification
studytoassessliquefactionsusceptibilityofsoil.Ithasbeenreportedthatfor standard
penetration value between 0 and 20,soilishighlysusceptible to
liquefaction.Forstandardpenetrationvaluelargerthan30,thereisnosignificant
damageduetoliquefaction.Figuregivenbelowcanbeusedtodeterminecyclic
resistanceratio(CRR).FormostofthedataofFiguretheearthquakemagnitudeis
closeto7.5(Seedetal,1975).Threelinesofthefigureareforsoilscontaining35,15
or≤5percentagefines.Thelineisatboundary.Datatotheleftoflineindicates
liquefactionduringearthquake.Datatotherightindicatesnoliquefactionduring
earthquake.(N1)60inthex-axisofFigure2.3representfieldstandardpenetration
valuemormalizedtoanoverburdenpressureof100kpaandhammerefficiencyof
60%.Thisvaluehasbeencorectedforfieldtestingaswelasforoverburden.In
ordertouseFig.2.3,thisparameterisdeterminedfirstfrom standardpenetration
testing.Estimatedpercentageoffinesinthesampleisthendeterminedby
performingfieldandlaboratoryanalysis.Soilswithmorenumberoffineshave
higherliquefactionresistance.Fig.2.3isapplicablefornonplasticsiltysandsand
plasticsiltysands.Itisalsoapplicabletocohesivesoilsmeetingthecriteriaof
liquefaction.Byknowing(N1)60andestimatedpercentageoffines,CRRofthesoil
canbeestimatedfromFigure2.3.FromFigureitisclearthatfor(N1)60valuegreater
than30,cleansandwilnotliquefyforanearthquakeofmagnitudeabout7.5.This
valueof(N1)60 correspondstosandindenseorverydensestate.TheCRRcurvefor

finelessthan5%isknownas“SPTcleansandbasecurve”.Figure2.3isapplicable
forearthquakemagnitudeofabout7.5.Astheearthquakemagnitudeincreases,
durationofgroundshakingalsoincreases.Consequently,cyclicshearstrainwil
increase.Thisdecreasesliquefactionresistanceofsoil.Forearthquakemagnitudes
otherthan7.5,theCRRobtainedfrom figureismultipliedbymagnitudescaling
factor.MagnitudescalingfactorhasbeengiveninTable2.1.

Figure2.3:CyclicresistanceratioforcleanandsiltysandsforM=7.5earthquakes
(AfterDay,2002)

Forcleansandbasecurve,Rauch(1998)gavethefolowingformulaforevaluationof
CRR.Thisisshownbyequation2.7.

(2.7)
 Table2.1:MagnitudeScalingFactor(AfterKramer)
Anticipated Magnitude
earthquake scaling
magnitude factor

8.5 0.89

7.5 1.00

6.75 1.13

6 1.32

5.25 1.50

HeresubscriptofCRRrepresentsmagnitudeofearthquake.Equation2.7isvalidfor
magnitude7.5onlyforothermagnitude,afactorknownasmagnitudescalingfactor
ismultipliedinequation2.3.MSFisgivenbyTable2.1.

2.6.3FactorofSafetyagainstLiquefaction

Factorofsafetyagainstliquefactionisdefinedas:

(2.8)

Ifthecyclicstressratiocausedbyearthquakeisgreaterthancyclicresistanceratio ofin-
situsoil(i.e.FS<1),liquefactioncouldoccurduringearthquake.Liquefactionwil
nottakeplaceotherwise.Higherthefactorofsafetymoreistheresistanceofsoil
againstliquefactionduringearthquake.Soilhavingfactorofsafetyslightlygreater
thanonecanalsoliquefy.Forexampleiflowerlayerliquefies,thenupwardwater
flowcouldinduceliquefactionofupperlayeraswel.Thislayerhasfactorofsafety
againstliquefactionslightlygreaterthanone.However,intheaboveanalysis,thereis
lotofcorections.Thesecorrectionsareappliedbothtocyclicstressratioaswelas
tocyclicresistanceratio.Thisisdoneformoreaccurateanalysis.Otherwisethe
entireanalysisisonlygrossapproximation.
Figure2.4:Processbywhichzonesofliquefactionisidentified(AfterKrammer)